A Demon's Curse and An Angel's Blessing
by Apex Soldier
Summary: Nine year old Naruto has had a hard life so far... worst turns to worse when his seal malfunctions. With his new form, what will happen to him? Naruhina, strong, animalistic Naruto... Other pairings undecided... Rated for gore scenes and possible lemon..
1. The Seal's Defect

**Yo, new story!**

**Thanks to Chewie Cookies for giving me the idea, EDelta88 for letting me use his challenge and Adran06 for BETA reading it...**

**Here's the summary...er, the extended version:**

**Nine year old Naruto has had a hard life so far... Beatings, being neglected, forced to fend for himself and being the village's pariah... Today however, is when worst turns to worse and his seal malfunctions... With his new form, what will happen to him when the secret is out and he has the intelligence and instincts of an animal? Will he still be a ninja or will he be put up in display like another animal?**

**So that's what's going on but if you need for me to explain I will...**

**Ok, first, something happens to his seal and fuses with Kyuubi so now he has nine golden tails and fox ears along with claws, fangs, etc, etc... Another thing is that they are nine, they as in Konoha 9... Nine years old, half way through his academy years and he is a demon now... got it? good...**

**Uhm... Oh yeah, everything before now was canon: Naruto going to academy, meeting people and a couple of times Hinata, everything... From here on out, there will be major differences...  
**

_**"Fools may our scorn, not envy, raise. For envy is a kind of praise."  
~John Gay~**_

**Chapter 1/Prologue: The Seal's Defect...**

**I don't own Naruto!  
**

* * *

Speeding past a light post, a small demon's ears twitched as it heard the near silent footsteps of its pursuers. Dashing down the empty street and into the shadows supplied by the forest at night, the demon stopped and sniffed the air. The demon's instincts kicked in and it jumped away from where it once was just as a black thing pierced the air in front of it. It ran in the opposite direction of it's pursuers and tried to lose them while running in random directions...

Left…

BOOM!

Right…

KABLOOM!

Up… nothing……

With it's tails staying still as could be, a demon waited as it saw seven black blurs move past him. Taking this as a time to rest, the demon realized that it had somehow gotten up a tree. Jumping down, the demon slowly crept down into the street, hopeful not to get caught by another group of scary creatures in black.

"There it is!" The small demon let out a surprised yelp as it turned its head and spotted three black, masked creatures running towards it. Wasting no time, the small demon ran full speed down the street, not knowing where to go. It was dark, the glowing circle in the sky was not as bright as it was earlier and looked smaller. It didn't matter; the small demon knew it was only a matter of time before it was captured. If only…

The image of a girl no older than him, staring down with her hair in the way of her eyes, appeared in the demon's mind. The image was a bit shadowy but from what the demon knew, she reminded it of a certain flower, mostly due to her scent. That's what the demon was currently looking for; the girl in its mind.

"**Katon: Gōkakyū** **no Jutsu!**" A voice sounded off as the demon felt the temperature rise greatly. Looking back, the demon barely jumped out of the way of the menacing fireball. Continuing on, the small demon felt its eyes let out small drops of tears. With its instincts working on overtime, the demon jumped up into the air just as the earth under it started to crumble.

The demon landed in a narrow passage and stopped short of hitting a vertical wall. It turned around and saw that it was cornered by one black creature. The black creature started to move its hands in an odd manner before it brought one of its hands up and sucked in a breath.

"**Katon: Gōkakyū** **no Jutsu!**" The black creature said and the smaller demon just stood there, waiting as the giant fireball made its way to it. The black creature smirked as it saw the small demon be enveloped by the flame it created. Its joy was soon cut short as a black silhouette appeared from the fireball and jumped at it. Before the black creature could react, the demon kicked in the creature's face in before jumping up.

Landing on what appeared to be a perfectly squared hill, the demon walked to the ledge of the square hill to see that there were multiple square hills that would occasionally show what was inside the hill. With its red, slit pupil eyes, the demon continued its search for the girl.

"Gotcha!" A voice suddenly yelled out. The demon barked as it felt something wrap around its torso, and immediately began to struggle under the hold of the other black scary creatures. After losing some feeling in its torso, the demon bit down on the black creature and after being released, it ran off into the street and between the squared hills.

Up with the other black creatures, they each tensed and stood at attention as a cloud of smoke appeared in the center of their formation.

"Did you manage to catch him, Tori_[Bird]_?" An elderly man said in white robes and white hat with the symbol for 'Fire' on it. The ANBU identified as bird bowed down on one knee.

"No, Hokage-sama. Nezumi_[Rat]_ was able to hold on to Naruto for only a few seconds before he bit his arm and ran off." The Third scowled; that wasn't good news. He had heard from one of the ANBU stationed to protect the nine year old that Naruto was on the floor squirming, almost like he was having a seizure. When Hiruzen came to the boy's apartment, he saw that the whole thing was trashed. There were claw marks on the floor boards, on the door, even on the walls. He also saw that the furniture were burned and cut up.

"Kuma_[Bear]_." Hiruzen said in a commanding tone. Immediately, the ANBU with a bear mask was kneeling in front of the elder Kage. "You were stationed to protect the young hero, were you not?" Hiruzen asked and the ANBU hesitated as he nodded.

"Yes, Hokage-sama." The ANBU answered.

"Then why were there burn marks on the furniture in the young boy's room?" The ANBU didn't answer; he knew he was caught. "Lock him up." The other two ANBU grabbed Kuma and disappeared in a puff of smoke. The ageing Kage sighed as he closed his eyes, disappearing from the roof he was on. From the shadows, a silhouette chuckled, its job done… for now.

[*.*.*.*]

Naruto jumped out of his hiding place and started to sniff the air. He wasn't too far away from where Hiruzen appeared but he didn't know that. All he knew was that there was a familiar scent in the air and that it was even getting closer.

"Naruto." Naruto flinched as his nine five-foot long golden tails stood on end. His eyes narrowed as the white robbed man walked closer to him. Sniffing the air once again, Naruto's ears and tails lowered as he slowly crawled to the white robbed man. He sensed no killing intent, no bad intentions from the man; if anything, he sensed care and love from him. Curling up by the man's legs, Naruto wrapped all nine tails around his body and was shivering. His orange pants were the only thing keeping him warm in the coldness of the night.

Hiruzen bent down and picked up the shivering hanyō and smiled regrettably. Suddenly, three other ANBU appeared by his side and Naruto's shivering became violent shudders. Hiruzen cursed under his breath; why were only a few of his ANBU really determined to care for the small hanyō? Hiruzen couldn't help but smile as one ANBU kneeled in front of him and when Naruto saw this ANBU, his shuddering was reduced slightly.

"You two may leave." Hiruzen ordered the two ANBU in back of him and they nodded before disappearing.

"Hokage-sama, I have informed the other ANBU of young Naruto's capture and they have returned to base." The ANBU informed Hiruzen. He nodded as he placed a hand on the ANBU's left shoulder.

"Rise Kakashi, we are alone." Kakashi nodded as he stood up and removed his dog mask. Kakashi eye smiled as his left eye and lower face were covered by bandages. His eye opened again as he became serious.

"I hate to mention this Hokage-sama, but your advisors have called a meeting between the clan heads. From what I know, some clan heads have complained about Naruto's unstable behavior lately and demanded a meeting between them, your advisors and yourself." Kakashi said and Hiruzen sighed.

"How did they find out about Naruto's odd behavior?" Hiruzen asked.

"I am unsure, Hokage-sama, but I can only guess from stories their kids have told them."

"Well, let's go. I want you to accompany me and guard Naruto. I have a feeling that their assassination attempts will only grow more in numbers." Kakashi nodded before putting on his mask and disappeared with Hiruzen who had a sleepy Naruto in his hands.

Appearing in a giant room, Hiruzen scowled as he saw his office filled with both angered civilians and clan heads, though a few of the clan heads appeared to be neutral. Hiruzen guessed the clan heads were angry about being woken up so early. Sitting in the only comfortable chair in his office, Hiruzen waited for his advisors to speak up.

"Hiruzen, I-"

"Know your place Homura. While we may have been teammates in our youths, I am your leader now and you will show me the proper respect." Hiruzen said as he glared down one of his advisors.

"Right, of course, Hokage-sama. As I was saying, I speak for everyone when I say that something needs to be done about the boy in your arms." Naruto, who sensed a majority of the killing intent in the room being directed at him, shuddered again.

"What have you come up with?" Hiruzen asked in almost a daring voice.

"We should lock the demon up in a-" A civilian said before a kunai was shoved into his throat, killing him immediately. Hiruzen mentally thanked Kakashi who was still hiding in the shadows of the room.

"My law is still in place! Anyone speaking of the entity in Naruto will be killed on the spot; no mercy shall be shown to those who disobey my law. Why are there civilians in this meeting?" Hiruzen stated and asked, mostly directed at his advisors.

"These civilians are some of the people who complained of _Naruto_." Koharu said with disdain while speaking Naruto's name. "Along with the rest of the clan heads and clanless shinobi." Koharu continued.

"I for one would like to say that I do not have any complaints about the boy." Shibi Aburame stated as he got everyone's attention.

"What?!" One civilian yelled.

"I also didn't complain about young Naruto." Hiashi said as he stifled his yawn. It was three in the morning and instead of postponing the damned meeting, they decided to do it now. "My daughter is not disturbed by his presence in the classroom and if she is alright, then I have nothing to complain about."

"My kid doesn't have a problem with him either so I don't hold anything against him." Shikaku said with a yawn and a deadpan look, almost as if willing himself to stay awake. A larger man nodded, along with another man with blond hair.

"Look at him; he's starting to look like… it!" A man with brown hair yelled.

"Haruno-san, please lower your voice." Hiruzen said in a no nonsense tone. The man frowned as he refrained from yelling at Hiruzen.

"The only thing that annoys me is his scent; he smells like a dirty fox." Tsume Inuzuka said as she covered her nose. Naruto, intentionally or not, tensed his muscles as he let out a loud yawn. A warm smile appeared on Hiruzen's lips while the civilians and Ikaku Haruno scowled.

"You see! His fangs, that is simply too sharp to be human!"

"Ikaku! I will not repeat myself! If you cannot lower your voice then I will have my ANBU escort you home." Hiruzen said, flaring his killing intent to intimidate the man. Ikaku scowled but didn't do anything else.

"I will get right to the point Hokage-sama; this boy has caused too much trouble. I am unsure what has happened to his seal but it appears to me that he has fused with his 'entity'. We do not know if he is a danger to everyone in this village. We were lucky that his transformation happened at night when most were asleep but will the outcome be the same during the day?" Koharu asked and Hiruzen didn't reply, knowing there was some truth in those words.

"All we are suggesting is that we contain him in a controlled environment so he may not harm anyone." Homura said. "Or himself." He added after seeing the Hokage glare at him.

"How about we leave the boy under my care?" A man who was, for lack of a better term, mummified except for his left eye proposed. Hiruzen tightened his hold on Naruto as he leveled the mummified war hawk with a glare.

"You are in no place to care for a child Danzō. Who knows what things you might try on this poor adolescent?" Hiruzen said, denying Danzō's proposal.

"Well it's either leave him with me or lock him up in a cage of some sort." Danzō retorted and many of the clan heads and civilians nodded at that prospect.

"Lock him up like the animal he is!" "That's a great idea!" "Place the cage in the center of the village!"

"BE QUIET!" Everyone in the room became silent as Hiruzen stared at the one who just yelled in shock. "You people disgust me! How dare you treat the Yondaime's legacy like a traitor! Like an animal to be put on display as if it had no feelings!" Hiashi shouted, mostly at the civilians who were suggesting doing the things mentioned before to Naruto.

"What nonsense do you speak of Hyuga? The Yondaime never had a spouse and never had a kid either." Ikaku said in angered disbelief. Hiashi activated his dōjutsu as he stared angrily at the husband of Konoha's infamous pink banshee and father of the future banshee.

"I speak only the truth _Haruno._ I knew the Yondaime well enough-" Hiashi retorted but wasn't given enough time to finish.

"Hiashi, that is enough, we will discuss this at another time period. For now, we will all return to our homes and-"

"No Hokage-sama, we will not leave until we know that the boy will not go on another rampage. Either he is locked in a cage or is executed." Koharu said and Hiruzen stood, tired of all the crap everyone was giving him.

"I will not execute him!" Hiruzen openly denied and Homura nodded.

"Then it is decided. He is to be locked in a cage to ensure that he will not go on another rampage." Homura stated as all of the civilians cheered, though they were clearly a bit disappointed Naruto wouldn't be executed. A majority of the clan heads could only regretfully agree, knowing this was the best they could do for the little boy for now. However, Hiashi and Hiruzen were not happy about this.

"Hold on, I am the Hokage and I make the final decision!" Hiruzen roared but Koharu and Homura only shook their heads.

"We are sorry to inform you Hiruzen but even if you are the Hokage, if we of the council, Koharu and I, see that your decision isn't for the better of the village, we may change the decision. What do you suggest we do to prevent him from going berserk on the village again?" Homura asked in a demanding tone. Hiruzen opened his mouth but not a sound came out. He was stumped; what could he do? He could not keep him since the village would think he was playing favorites, especially with the village's pariah. If this were to happen, he would lose his title and all hope for Naruto would be lost along with his job.

Would caging Naruto until a better thought arose be better? Hiruzen looked down at his surrogate grandson as the fox boy slept comfortably in his arms. What other choice did he have besides execution? Sighing, the old man clenched his fist as he started to steadily rock Naruto in his arms.

_'I'm sorry, Naruto… I'm sorry, Minato. I have failed both of you.'_ Hiruzen looked at his advisors with a hard stare.

"He will be placed in a cage _when _an appropriate cage is built. In the mean time, he will stay with me since I seem to be the only one he won't see as an immediate threat." Hiruzen said and his advisors nodded, respecting that he wanted some time with the boy before being separated.

"Agreed." Koharu said and Hiruzen felt the tension in the room escalate. Radiating killing intent, the tension disappeared and everyone wanted to leave already.

"Everyone may return home. Any other complaints will be dealt with at a later time. For now, we rest." Everyone nodded as they started to file up by the door, leaving the room one by one. The last to leave was Hiashi who was staring at Naruto and Hiruzen.

"I hope you know what you doing you crazy old monkey." Hiashi said in a un-Hyuga manner before closing the door behind him. Hiruzen let out a deep sigh and let his eyes rest on the now smiling Naruto. His nine golden tails released their locked up muscles as his entire body relaxed. A smile emerged on his lips before it became a lamented frown.

"I'm sorry Naruto, I really tried…" Hiruzen, after all his sixty five years of living, let a tear fall from his tired old eyes. He had cried when one of his boys died, he had cried when his wife died; however, this tear was one of regret and helplessness. He opened his eyes when one of Naruto's tails wiped away the tear from his face. He spotted Naruto smiling sleepily at him with an expression that Hiruzen registered as 'you tried your best'.

"Do… Do you understand me Naruto?" Hiruzen asked and Naruto's smile widened a bit before he let out a tired yip. Hiruzen smiled as he continued to hold Naruto in his arms and Naruto's eyes closed for the final time that night as he drifted off to sleep. "I hope one day you will be free from this hell you're going through." Hiruzen whispered, so as not to wake the sleeping child in his arms.

"Kakashi." Kakashi appeared before Hiruzen with his mask off and staring softly at Naruto. "I want you to tell Kurenai to meet me in my office at ten in the morning. I have a mission for her." Kakashi nodded as he disappeared, to go do what he was just assigned to do. Kurenai was one of the best, peaceful choices and Hiruzen couldn't think of anyone else who could do this besides Kakashi but he was needed in ANBU. She had to do this and she was going to do it; whether she wanted to or not.

* * *

**I know it's pretty short but this is only the prologue/first chapter so of course it won't be that long...**

**I am pretty sure that it'll be another while till I update this story since AP class is a drag... But I will have it sometime within next week, i think, no promises...  
**

**Anyways, not sure what else to mention about this and if you have a question, don't be afraid to ask cuz I won't bite... Any questions at all [not including flames although feel free to if you damn well please...] and I will answer them unless I think it'll spoil the future chapters...**

**Adran06: For those who might not know, Gōkakyū no Jutsu is "Grand Fireball" in the dub. It was agreed between me and the amazing author Angelito Soldado that it would be a good idea to start using the original Japanese names for attacks and such, so I'll be mentioning translations for any Jutsu used in the chapters at the end.**

**Next Chapter: Naruto-kun, what happened?**

**Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it...  
**


	2. Narutokun, what happened?

**Yo!**

**Man, I'm surprised, a lot of people seem to like this story... I mean, 21 reviews just for one chapter? Thank you all!**

**There is somethings that I want to go over though...**

**If some of you feel familiar with the plot and/or idea of the story from the story 'Naruto of the Nine Tails', that's mostly because EDelta88_[author of the story, which is interesting]_**** basically had a challenge that involved a feral Naruto, thus A Demon's Curse and An Angel's Blessing**** is born, er, made, whatever...**

**Another thing, the title is sort of similar to another good story called 'Curse of a Hanyo, Love of an Angel' but my title is still different... Instead of hanyo****, it's demon****... Instead of love****, it's blessing****... However, that doesn't mean I came up with the title by looking at that story's title... Mere coincidence because I wasn't even thinking about that or any other story when I was thinking about the title... Are we clear on that? **

**Oh and the name of the this story is basically a riddle... Yup, the riddle _[more for Naruto than anyone else but feel free to try to guess it]_**** is what can be as bad as a demon's curse yet as good as an angel's blessing?**** Think you got it? Let me know, I'd like to hear your answers/guesses...**

**And to warn you now, there will be a gory scene about half way into the story... I will warn you again right before the gore starts... It's nothing special but those who are squeamish, you have been warn... **

**I'm done for now so please enjoy the story...**

**_"Who overcomes by force hath overcome but half his foe. "  
~John Milton~_**

**Chapter 2: Naruto-kun, what happened?**

**I don't own Naruto**

* * *

Hiruzen sighed as the paperwork for Naruto's _new home _was being dealt with. The ideas, blueprints and schematics he was receiving from many civilians were all horrible and sickening in Hiruzen's mind, and they were immediately thrown away; discarded as nothing but junk mail. It's been a week since Naruto's incident and the village's artisans have been working nonstop to finish the cage already chosen to keep Naruto in. Hiruzen looked down at his surrogate grandson and watched him lay as still as he could while his tails were occasionally moving from side to side.

The expression on Naruto's face said it all; he knew what was happening and he was saddened by it. Hiruzen wasn't sure how he knew but either way, there wasn't much he could do to stop it. He seemed to give up on life, almost as if he would gladly die at any moment just so the sadness he felt would leave him. Why were the good always punished and pushed aside by the undeserving bastards that walk this Earth? Why should Naruto be punished for an unforeseeable event as fusing with his tenant?

"Hokage-sama." A man who had a tired look on face said as he entered Hiruzen's office and walked up to his desk. Naruto tensed as he inched his way to Hiruzen's feet, away from the unknown man. "The artisans have sent word that Naruto's new home is finished and is now ready for him to live in." The man then coughed into his balled up left fist and resisted the urge to reach into his back pocket to grab his cough medicine. Hiruzen inwardly scowled but the sick man only saw an unreadable expression on the elder before he nodded.

"Thank you Hayate, you're dismissed." Hayate bowed and walked out of the room and after closing the door behind him, pulled out the cough medicine and chugged down the entire bottle. Hiruzen looked down at Naruto who was now relaxed but still tensed; he was a lot smarter than he let on.

"Naruto." At the mention of his name, Naruto looked up at Hiruzen and he was met with the sad, regretful brown eyes of the elderly Kage. "I'm sorry but I need to take you to your new... _home_." Hiruzen told him, venom dripping on the word home. No, what Naruto was going to be living in was anything but a home; more like an animal's pen at a low class zoo. It mocked the word home yet was easily labeled as one by the idiotic and closed minded fools that inhabited this village.

Naruto, in response, let out an almost inaudible whine before raising himself off the ground and walking on all fours to the door and waiting for Hiruzen to open it. With a heavy heart, Hiruzen walked up to Naruto, lifted him off the ground and gave him a hug. Naruto tensed, never given a hug in his life, so this was all new to him.

"I'm sorry Naruto..." Before anything else could be said, Hiruzen knocked Naruto out with a quick poke to a pressure point. With the now limp and unconscious boy in his arms, Hiruzen sighed before he disappeared from his office and headed for Naruto's new prison.

**[*.*.*.*]**

The pain... the wound... the blood!

Something had to be done about it... but what? It was not yet lunch time and the next break wasn't for another half hour; but if left unattended for another ten minutes, death was an assured result. Blood just wouldn't stop guzzling out of the opening and the side effects of not having sufficient blood in the body was starting to take effect. If something wasn't done soon...

"Hinata!" Looking up at the one who called her name, Hinata was met with cold, unforgiving pale eyes common in her clan. "Why are you day dreaming?!" One of the elders in her clan 'generously' offered to train her, seeing as her father was on the brink of giving up on her. That was a week ago when they were training on the basics of the Jyuuken. Now they were one evading and/or parrying kunai and other sharp instruments of steel and metal.

Grabbing her left arm softly, Hinata wobbly bowed down and resisted the urge to just fall flat on her face.

"I-I'm sorry E-Elder but m-m-my wound n-n-needs to be t-t-tended t-to." Hinata stuttered out, even worse than usual. With the state she was in, she wouldn't mind the Elder knocking her unconscious like he did yesterday after a supposed 'spar'. Maybe then she'd escape this hell she was told was her home. Ha, she'd spit on that word if it wasn't for the fact that one, it wasn't becoming of the Hyuga Heiress and two, she just didn't have drive to do something like that. No matter what was done to her, her shy and kind attitude prevented her from doing anything mean and/or wrong.

Home; what was the true meaning of the word home? A house, apartment, or other shelter that is the usual residence of a person, family, or household; the place in which one's domestic affections are centered. Is this considered home... to her? No, simple as that; where she currently resided in was not a home but a personalized hell where many of her so called 'family' were actually her persecutors.

To her, home would be a place she would sleep in every night and wake up with a sense of peace and serenity, not dread and suspicion. Home would be waking up to a nice and happy family or maybe even waking next to Naruto. If she had any blood to spare, Hinata knew she would be as red as the blood she lacks.

Remembering the boy who was the object of her affection, Hinata's demeanor saddened as she didn't remember seeing him in class today. In fact, he wasn't anyhere to be found for an entire week now, which was odd. She noticed the way the academy's instructors purposely ignored Naruto's comments, whether appropriate or not is debatable, and questions, again debatable. They've even gone so far as to falsely accuse him of doing things he hadn't really done and as a result, was sent out of the classroom, making him miss an important lesson. Even with all of this, he had shown up for class everyday and never missed class; for anything. It did strike her as odd that he never had a sick day in the three years they have been in the academy but that didn't really matter; as long as he was healthy, Hinata didn't have a problem with it.

With her mind consumed in the many scenarios for him not attending the academy, Hinata didn't see the Elder in front of her raise his left hand and let it come down onto her right cheek. The sound of flesh being hit resonated around the dojo they were currently in and snapped Hinata out of her thoughts. Fresh, new tears made themselves known in her eyes as she put on a questioning look on her face.

"You are supposed to be the Hyuga Heiress, now act like it and stop crying!" The Elder yelled and was about to strike her again but Hinata's eye lids were half closed and she fell to her knees, still holding her left arm, trying her best to stop the bleeding. The Elder let out a disgusted grunted before walking away. "Go ahead and have that wound treated. You better return here in the next ten minutes or there will be no lunch break."

Hinata only heard 'go' before her mind blanked out and she fell on her face and her lavender eyes became dull. The life of an heiress... it's nothing like how it is in the fairy tales.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Naruto felt himself starting to regain his consciousness as his eyes slowly began to flutter open. However, there were a few problems that popped into his mind. His vision was blurred, his hearing impaired and his sense of balance was nowhere to be found; what the hell happened?

Naruto, with a little feeling in his neck, looked up and faintly saw trees and pushes with black lines spaced out in front of him. Naruto blinked multiple times as it seemed to clear the blurry images he was currently seeing. After about a minute, his vision returned to almost perfection and was starting to get the feelings in his body. Whatever had hit him was either strong or effective... or both.

After finally waiting for everything wrong with him to be righted, Naruto stood on all fours as he started to look around. He was lost; where exactly was he?

"So, you're awake and about already?" Naruto smartly turned to the direction of the voice and tensed even more as he saw a silhouette of a woman watching him from the shadows. Naruto growled at the stranger and bent his limbs so he was closer to the ground, ready to move if the stranger made any strange moves. "Very hostile. So angered..." The silhouette moved from the shadows and stepped into the light. She had long, black hair and a nice figure with a chunin vest. Under that was a red sleeveless, turtle neck shirt and black ANBU pants. What caught Naruto's attention though were the crimson orbs staring at intently him.

"Not much of a talker either." She commented. Naruto watched as she kept her distance from him while also getting as close as she could without provoking him. Naruto felt unease under her gaze and expressed it with a quick yip and a low growl. Kurenai stopped staring at Naruto as she walked back into the shadows and disappeared from Naruto's sight. Naruto felt anxious knowing that an unseen stranger was around. His eyes were glued to the area where he last saw Kurenai until he felt her move more to the left.

Kurenai was amazed that the small boy in front of her was able to track her down even while hidden. Not even other chunins were able to find her as quickly and no matter how fast or devious she was, he'd continue to track her exact location without hesitation. This boy would make a great tracker one day should he actually become a shinobi; something she decided to make a mental note of.

Kurenai decided that instead of continuing to pointlessly test Naruto's tracking skills, to take in her surroundings. She wasn't sure why she was in the cage with Naruto but whatever pays the bills. The cage was decently large, large enough for maybe one or two elephants to live in without having space problems. There was a tree to the right of her and make shift tower of boulders on the end of the cage where she guessed was Naruto's new _home_. There was a small entrance on the left side and inside was a futon and what Kurenai thinks is a toilet but she couldn't be too sure.

However, the worst thing about this place was not what was inside the cage but where the cage was located. She watched in disgust as many walked by the cage and smirked victorious at the confused demon. How could they just stick his cage out near Konoha's shopping district? Such a thing was cruel and stupid. It would not be long before Naruto's fellow classmates would find him like this and everything in his life will drastically change, though it's not as if it wasn't already.

Kurenai swore the Hokage mentioned to her that his cage would be in a secluded training ground where no one would know he was there. She closed her eyes as she guessed that it was the civilians' idea to put it here. She sprang her eyes open when she sensed someone getting close to the cage. She looked from her hiding spot to see a girl no older than three slowly waddling her way over. Kurenai would've moved to intercept her but Naruto appeared closer to the little girl as she smiled at him and reached out with her hands. Naruto was wary as the girl's hand reached his ears and slowly petted it.

Kurenai saw Naruto immediately step back and his ears drooped down. The little girl tilted her head to the side as she observed Naruto's reaction. She then giggled and motioned Naruto to come closer. Still cautious of the little girl, Naruto slowly walked over and sat down as the girl continued to pet his ears. Naruto then let out a subconscious purr like sound as the little girl scratched his ears, giggling as she did.

"Amaya!" The little girl turned her head at the call of her name and saw her mother looking very angrily at her while marching over to her. "No! You don't touch that!" The mother yelled as she reached into the cage and slapped the top of Naruto's head, making him get up quickly and run to the other side. The little girl frowned at seeing Naruto go away and was carried by her mother, away from Naruto's cage all the while being told never to go near the cage again.

Kurenai scowled at the lady and at anyone who sneered, smirked or laughed at Naruto. Sniffling could be heard in the cage and Kurenai looked down to see Naruto lying down on his abdomen with his head in his arms. His shoulders were shaking violently and she could tell his breathing was ragged. He was crying.

Kurenai didn't know Naruto very well or at all for that matter, but watching the small demon cry his little heart out now was too much to bear. However she dared not go to him, she wasn't sure whether or not he saw her as a threat or not and if he did, she would surely be dead within the minute. All she could do was give her sympathies from a distance and lower her opinion of the civilian populace.

"OH MY…!" Kurenai looked up and her eyes widened as she saw who just yelled that. Yup, this was not going to end well…

**[*.*.*.*]**

Hinata woke up at the sounds of muffled murmuring; whoever was speaking was not happy. She slowly opened her eyes as she cleared her vision and looked around the room she was in. It was a white room and was fairly empty except for a second bed to her left, a curtain separating the bed from her and two doors on the opposite side of the room. Hinata guessed if she was where she thought she was, one door led to a hallway while the other led to the bathroom.

Hinata lifted her left arm but felt something wrapped tightly around it, making its mobility limited. She looked at her left arm and saw gauze wrap wrapped around the wound she received early. Her eyes widened as she looked at a nearby clock and saw she was more than an hour late to practice. She groggily got up but soon felt her equilibrium leave her and she position her hand on the bed she was on so she wouldn't fall.

"_She is not fit to be the heiress!"_ A muffled voice practically yelled as Hinata finally understood the muffled voices from earlier. Her curiosity getting the better of her, Hinata remained still to listen to the voices.

"_Perhaps not but what other choice do we have?"_ A second voice answered.

'_Father?'_ Hinata thought as she registered the second voice as her father.

"_What of Hanabi?"_ The first voice, who Hinata knew as the Elder she 'sparred' with, suggested and Hinata became tensed.

"_She is still too young, Hinata is our only option."_ Hiashi retorted and Hinata felt tears fall from her eyes; she was only the heiress because she was their only option.

"_What of Neji?"_ Hinata stopped breathing as soon as she heard her cousin's name.

"_Neji?"_

"_Why not? It will be relatively easy to transfer his seal to Hinata and he will make an exceptional heir._"

"…" Hinata couldn't believe her own father was thinking about it; about transferring Neji's seal to her and making her apart of the Side Branch. This was too much for her; she needed to leave this place. Willing her weary body to stand, Hinata opened the window to her room as quickly as possible and jumped out of it, thanking which ever god was listening that she was on the first floor of the hospital. She noticed that it was almost night with the sun almost setting before she started to run as quickly as she could, away from the hospital and the life she wished she never had.

After stopping to walk calmly, Hinata started to look around the village while avoiding making eye contact with anyone. It wasn't that she hated them, it was just that she wouldn't know how to start a conversation once someone said hi to her. What she didn't know though, was that she wouldn't have to worry about what topic to talk about should she run into someone; the topic will just come to her.

"Hinata!" Said girl flinched and turned to see two clouds making their way closer to her. Hinata was scared to say the least and closed her eyes when she thought the clouds of smoke would run her over. When Hinata wasn't on the floor or feeling like something had run her over, she dared to open her eyes and saw Ino and Sakura panting in front of her, doubling over and trying to catch their second wind.

"I-Ino? S-Sakura?" At the mention of their names, Ino and Sakura propped up and each grabbed one of Hianta's hands. She squeaked as both girls started to pull her in the direction from where they running from.

"Come on Hinata, you need to see something!" Ino managed to say, still a bit winded. Sakura nodded in agreement and Hinata tried to stop them.

"I-I'm sorry but i-if it is a-about Sasuke again t-then-"

"No Hinata, it's not about Sasuke!" Sakura interrupted and promptly stopped with Ino as both faced her. "Look, as far as the 'secret' crush goes, everyone knows about your crush on Naruto but the kid himself." Hinata blushed and after getting her hands back, began to touch the tip of her index fingers together.

"Is… I-Is it that o-o-obvious?" She asked, almost fearful to hear the reply.

"Hai, it is." Both girls answered, deadpanned. Sakura was the first to snap out of it and gripped Hinata's hand once again. "Still, what we want to show you will shock you."

"It's about Naruto." Ino stated and Hinata let the words register in her mind as she let herself be dragged by Konoha's top two gossipers in their age group.

'_Naruto-kun…'_She was too busy with her thoughts that she didn't notice that she was begin dragged to Konoha's shopping district and then stop in front of a cage. It wasn't until she was shaken out of her thoughts by an anxious Ino that she noticed the seemingly empty cage in front of her.

"W-what are we d-doing he-" Her words died in her throat as her breath was hitched in her throat. Appearing from a collection of boulders, a small shadow walked out and had its nine tails swishing around lazily. Its ears twitched at the newcomers and it sat on its hind legs as it used its front legs to keep itself up. It was still in the shadows so Hinata still couldn't tell what it was but she did know from the position its head was in that it was looking at her closely.

Hinata looked around the cage and saw nothing more than a few bowls on the side where she guessed was where the creature ate and drank and a small tree on the top left corner of the cage. Hinata turned to look at Ino and Sakura as their eyes were glued onto the creature in the cage.

"Etto, w-why did you b-bring me here? I-I thought we w-were going to see N-Naruto-kun." No sooner had she said his name did the creature in the cage start moving closer to Hinata, thought she hadn't noticed.

"We are." Sakura said and Hinata looked back at the cage and saw that the creature was out of the shadows and said creature was in fact her blond crush. Naruto's blond hair seemed ruffled and a bit dirty and his ears were drooped down and golden, like his hair. His sad, crimson eyes were looking at Hinata as he placed his whisker marked cheeks against the cold, hard steel bars. His claws were going through the cage and were hanging off the edge, wanting to get closer to Hinata.

"N-Naruto-kun… w-w-what happened?" She stammered as Naruto suddenly got eager to exit the cage as he whined and tried to force himself through the gap between the cage's bars. He only managed to get his arms through before an electrical volt shocked him and sent him back. "Naruto-kun!" Hinata shouted. The three girls gasped as they ran to the cage, wary of touching the steel bars. Hinata however didn't care as she grabbed onto the bars and tried to see if Naruto was alright. "Naruto-kun?"

From the distance, Hinata saw Naruto's shadow unstably get up and then fall back down. He didn't move after the first attempt.

Hinata's heart started to race as she forced herself through the steel bars but with no such luck; something was holding her back.

"Hinata!" Ino and Sakura shouted as they held Hinata by her shirt. "Are you crazy?!" They shouted again.

"Hey, those girls need help. Oh no, the Hyuga Heiress is stuck and it's all the demon's fault!" A man shouted and a whole crowd of people started to accumulate near Naruto's cage. Grumbling and angry shouts were heard through the crowd as its size grew until practically all civilians were there. They yelled for the demon's death or for him to be tortured, shocking Ino and Sakura. They were then pushed back from the crowd and were as far away from Naruto as they could be.

Hinata was still too preoccupied on Naruto's safety that she didn't notice the mob forming behind her. She still thought Sakura and Ino were holding on to her so she started to kick back, wanting them to let go. Her teary eyes kept looking at Naruto who was still refusing to move. It wasn't until a man forcefully opened the locked door of the cage with giant pliers did she noticed the people around her. She finally let go of the bars and the man holding her quickly dragged her away from the cage.

"There, you're safe now." The man said as he ran back to the rest of the mob. Hinata watched as one by one, people started to enter the cage. Hinata ran to the entrance when suddenly; she felt hazy and realized it was all a genjutsu. Remembering her training, Hinata made the ram sign and released the genjutsu placed on her. She saw the other civilians standing in a daze until Hinata noticed a chunin also make a ram sign and release the civilians from the genjutsu.

Another chunin, a female one, jumped down from the shadows and stood in front of the still, unresponsive Naruto.

"You are all to walk away from here and leave, now!" The woman shouted and Hinata knew this chunin to be Kurenai, a nice woman who would occasionally pop in to see how she was doing. The chunin who released the genjutsu snarled and took out a kunai.

"You're defending the demon brat now? Sad." It was obvious he was inebriated but looked dangerous nonetheless. He ran at Naruto but Kurenai appeared in his way again and stopped. Before she could react, the man ran past her and to Naruto. The chunin was about to strike down on Naruto but Kurenai was now over him and kicked him across the cage. She would have her hands full and she wasn't sure if she could handle everyone right now, especially with the drunk chunin. "Pay attention!" She blocked the drunken chunin's arc with her kunai as he pulled out more kunai. She pushed him back and threw her kunai at him but he sloppily dodged it and threw three kunai at her.

"Now that she's busy, we can get the demon brat!" Everyone cheered as they made their way to Naruto. Hinata pushed through the crowd and finally caught of glimpse at Naruto who was looking directly at her with sad eyes. Hinata cried as she closed her eyes and pushed harder against the crowd and after finally getting into the cage, Hinata quickly appeared before Naruto with her arms spread out. She glared as best she could at the civilians but they only looked at her confusingly. "Get out the way so we can kill the demon!" A man yelled.

"I won't let you hurt him!" Hinata retorted with no hesitation. Everyone scowled and Naruto raised his head a little, seeing the girl in his mind standing in front of her.

"N...N-Na..." Naruto mumbled out but couldn't continue after seeing a man walk up to Hinata. He growled and tried to stand but the electrical shock from earlier pretty much shut off all control of his appendages. Before his eyes, Naruto witnessed something he never could have imagine; the man grabbed the side of Hinata's head and pushed her off where she tripped on her legs and hit her head on the ground. Naruto eyed Hinata before looking up at the man in front of him. He wore the same green vest as the woman from before except he looked unstable and drunk. However, Naruto didn't see an intoxicated chunin who could risk losing his rank. No, what Naruto saw was a dead man who had hurt _her_.

[~.~.Warning: It gets graphic from this point on... You were warned.~.~]

Before the drunken chunin could take his shot at Naruto, he felt something cold and wet trail down his torso. Looking down, the chunin panicked as he saw Naruto's claw going through his chest. Naruto retracted his arm and kicked the man's stomach with the sole of his feet. The chunin staggered back but Naruto was far from done. He ran at the chunin and began to claw at the man; ripping out limbs and skin. Blood flew everywhere and colored part of the cage red. Naruto, with an armless and one legless half dead chunin in front of him, tackled the man down and with one of his blood soaked tails, ripped off the man's head and threw it out the open cage door.

The civilians that were watching were frozen still in fear until Naruto finished off the chunin and set his sights on them.

"RUN!" A man shouted as they ran to the cage door and started to run off out of the cage. Unfortunately for them, Naruto was quicker.

_**SPLAT**_

The sound of blood hitting the ground was heard as Naruto charged through the masses and swung his claw around at the scared people. A man was horizontally cut down the middle while the others, whether lucky or not, was still alive even though they would eventually bleed to death. With his tails, Naruto either tossed civilians into the air at a high degree or ripped out appendages. The tail furthest on Naruto's right side stretched out and wrapped itself around a man's neck and tightened its hold until the man passed out and his head fell from his shoulders.

Half of the civilians that originally showed up to take out Naruto were either lying in a pool of their own blood and others or were dead. The other half were now still as Naruto circled them with his body low and his eyes narrowed. The way he walked made him look like an angry predator who had found his lunch/prey. That's exactly what was going on through Naruto's mind.

Suddenly, the black creatures from long ago appeared before Naruto and he flinched. His fear escaped him as he remembered Hinata being knocked aside. He knew why they were here; they were here to take him away from her or vice versa. Naruto growled even more as he pounced the first black creature and smashed its face in with ease. The other black creatures didn't hesitate as they moved their hands at random paces. After Naruto finished disembodying the first black creature, he noticed that all the other creatures were getting ready for something.

"**Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu****!****" **Naruto yelped in surprised as a hand grabbed both his hind legs and brought him to the ground until only his head was showing. His eyes widened as three strong attacks started to head for him.

**"****Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu****/Suiton: Mizu Kamikiri!"** The jet of water and fireball all headed for the same target as Naruto fidgeted uncomfortably in his place. Before the attack would collide together, an ANBU with a monkey mask slammed his hands on the ground and summoned a giant wall of dirt to rise and protect the surviving civilians.

The resulting explosion shook the Earth under the civilians as some fell and others just lost feeling in their legs from fear. After everything calmed down and no sound was heard, the ANBU walked out where Naruto once was to see something but the scorched ground and the hole where Naruto was. The ANBU were wondering where Naruto went until he appeared from the ground and wrapped two of his tails around the ANBU with the monkey mask; one tail was wrapped around the shoulders and the other around the knees. With a quick and effortless motion, Naruto ripped the ANBU in half before throwing him to the side.

Naruto let out a feral growl as he felt something slice his back. The wound immediately closed up and Naruto started to search around as his crimson eyes picked up quick moment all around him. With quick reflexes, he ducked under the ANBU's swipe of its sword and Naruto tripped the ANBU with one of his long tails. Jumping up, Naruto slammed all his four appendages onto the ANBU with a rabbit mask and the ANBU was drilled into the ground. Naruto jumped out of the crater and shook his entire body, relieving himself of the blood on his body. Almost his entire body was soaked in blood and the only spot not bloodied was his neck and majority of his face.

Naruto hunched his back as the remaining two ANBU took out their swords and fell into a battle stance. Naruto's mouth then started to glow an ominous red before he pried it open and a small blast rocketed off it. The ANBU with a boar mask jumped out of the way as his partner, Bull, was hit by the blast and exploded. The attack's explosion spread out into a ten foot diameter. With his attacker killed, Naruto let out a primal roar and Boar appeared over Naruto with his sword positioned to slit his throat. Naruto though wasn't about to give up as he grabbed the sword's blade with his right hand and thrust his free hand up to the ANBU's exposed neck. Boar held on to his neck as he was choking on his own blood before finally laying down and dying. Naruto jumped over the wall of dirt and the scared civilians and landed in between the civilians and his cage. He roared as his prey had nowhere to turn, the only means of running away was threw the means of their death.

Hinata slowly came to as she fluttered her eyes open. She looked around and saw that it was night by the lack of light around. She then spotted Kurenai as a chunin held her down and threatened to slice her throat. Hinata would've gone to help her but… she heard it…

"AHHH!" The blood curdling scream scared her to no end and she immediately sat up and looked around for the one who just yelled. Her eyes stopped and widened as she saw Naruto cut a man in half with his right claw. No one else stood but him, everyone else was crumbled on the floor dead and bleeding. She involuntarily shook as Naruto's eyes scanned the area and landed on her. They were cold and merciless before changing to sad, hopeful and… and something else…

"Hinata." Hinata jumped as she felt someone put a hand on her left shoulder. She looked up to see Kurenai who was breathing deeply and looking at Naruto. "We need to get you out of here." She said and when Hinata looked back at Naruto, she saw that the look in his eyes returned to rage. He ran in unprecedented speed and appeared before Kurenai before any of the two could blink. Kurenai gasped but her breath was hitched in her throat as Naruto kicked her chest with the bottom of his feet. She flew back and her back hit the bars, knocking any remaining wind out of her. Naruto growled as he slowly made his way to Kurenai; someone wearing a green vest already hurt _her_, he wasn't about to let another do that again.

Hinata watched in fear as Naruto moved as slowly as possible as Kurenai staggered to get her upper body off the ground. All the muscles in Kurenai's body locked as she came eye to eye with Naruto. His eyes pierced through her and it was like he was looking into her soul.

"Naruto-kun!" Without warning, Hinata hugged Naruto's back; preventing him from attacking Kurenai. Naruto snarled before realizing that it was _her_ that was holding him. Naruto whined like a scolded dog and sat down on his abdomen with his ears drooped and his tails wrapping around Hinata as she held onto Naruto tightly, crying a little. "This isn't you Naruto-kun, you're not a monster, and you don't kill." She mumbled as she rubbed her cheek against his back. Naruto stood with Hinata still holding onto him and dragged her back to his make-shift home. There, he turned onto his back while using his tails to move Hinata next to his body. Hinata was blushing a bit at the intimacy Naruto was showing and fainted after he smiled brightly at her.

Naruto guessed she just fell asleep so he wrapped all his tails around Hinata to keep her warm from the coldness of the night and drifted off into his own land of dreams as Hinata subconsciously snuggled closer to Naruto.

Kurenai, with help from the bars, stood up and walked over to the entrance of Naruto's home. Looking in, she couldn't' help but crack a smile. While she had witness the horrifying event earlier during her own fight after knocking the drunken chunin out, she just couldn't see the Naruto in front of her killing everyone. If it wasn't for the blood, she wouldn't even believe he had just massacred the civilians and ANBU. She turned around as she felt a second presence appear in the cage. She bowed down as low as she could without losing balance; which wasn't very low, actually.

"What happened here Kurenai?" Hiruzen asked as he surveyed his surroundings. To him, it appeared as if a small war had occurred here and by the look of it all, he wouldn't doubt that there was. HE scowled as the stench of death and blood reached his senses and he brought his attention back on Kurenai who was struggling to stand. "Never mind, I want you to write out a report on what happened and give it to me in the morning. For now, you should go home and rest and don't worry, someone will take your place. You will still be paid for the mission of protecting Naruto and should you desire to, you can continue to protect him."

"With all due respect Hokage-sama, I would rather report what I saw now." Hiruzen nodded and he let her speak as she began recalling what occurred earlier. Hiruzen was amazed and wouldn't have believed anything Kurenai was telling him if it wasn't for the fact that he knew that this was Naruto they were talking about. Such destruction, skill and speed; with the right training and guidance, Naruto would become the ultimate ninja and would become Hokage hands down. However, Hiruzen knew that if the village never accepts him then his dream would be even more hopeless then it first appeared.

"… and after he killed the last civilian, he knocked me away from Hinata and would have killed me if Hinata hadn't stopped him. Hokage-sama, there is something I'd like to inform you of." Kurenai took a second to take in a breath before continuing. "I don't think Naruto attacked the civilians because he hated them; I actually think it's because he wanted to protect Hinata." She paused and let her words sink in.

"I see what you mean; that would explain it. After Kouta pushed Hinata out of the way and inadvertently knocked her out, Naruto saw him as a threat to her so he killed him. It's also safe to assume that he saw the rest of the civilians as a threat as well." Hiruzen said and Kurenai nodded. "Where is Hinata?" Hiruzen asked and Kurenai looked back at Naruto's den. Hiruzen followed her eyes and walked to the entrance to Naruto's den and smiled warmly at seeing Naruto wrap his tails protectively around Hinata with a true smile on both their faces.

"Hokage-sama, what's going to happen now?" Kurenai asked and Hiruzen's brow furrowed; what was he going to do? This was not going to go well with his advisors. He would need to find out some way to get them to not persecute Naruto. They had already put him in a controlled environment and looked what happened. What Hiruzen needed was someone else who knew how to calm Naruto down, someone like…

And idea sprouted in Hiruzen's mind as he called his personal ANBU. An ANBU with a dog masked jumped down from… well from nowhere and kneeled before the ageing Kage.

"Dog, summon Hiashi to my office, as well as my advisors. After you have completed this; return here to guard the two sleeping children." Dog nodded and disappeared as quickly as he had appeared. Hiruzen then looked at Kurenai again. "Kurenai, if you don't mind joining the meeting, I would appreciate you being there to back up my explanation to Hiashi and the advisors." Kurenai nodded.

"I would be honored Hokage-sama." Hiruzen nodded and they waited for Dog who came back five minutes after he left.

"Now let's go Kurenai, I'm sure the meeting will be longer than expected and quite taxing on the mind." Hiruzen said as Dog hid in the shadows and both Kurenai and Hiruzen disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

From the shadows, Kakashi removes his mask and slowly enters Naruto's den and watches them sleep. Under his bandages, he smiles but it fades as Naruto begins to wake up. He groggily stares at Kakashi who was as still as can be; he saw the mangled bodies of the other ANBU and he really didn't want to upset Naruto. However, he hadn't expected Naruto to yawn a bit before his lips twitched upward. It looked like a smile but not a big one.

"It seems you've grown fond of her Naruto. Hmm, I should know who she is; her dark blue hair is a give away to me that she's a Hyuga but her name…"

"'Nata." Kakashi's only visible widened as he heard Naruto bark out the name. It was a bit rough and tired but sounded just like his old voice.

"Hinata Hyuga, that's what you're saying. But how do you know her name?" Kakashi asked and Naruto tilted his head to his left and looked at Kakashi with a confused expression. Kakashi sighed as he leaned back onto the walls. "Eh, you probably don't know either. Well, as long as you're not going to attack me, there's no point in me hiding. Besides, with that sense of smell, you'd probably find me anyway." Kakashi said as he took out a small book and continued from the last page he was on. Seeing as the book was not going to be a threat to Hinata, Naruto put his head down next to Hinata's and fell back asleep.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Hiashi waited expectantly in the Hokage's office; it was practically nine in the evening, what did the Hokage want with him. He was not in a good mood and the fact that the old fart of an elder pushed it earlier did not help. Hiashi inwardly scowled as he remembered the elder telling him to replace Hinata with Neji. He didn't hate the boy but he wasn't about to have his eldest daughter get the seal placed on her. The only reason he led the elder on that he thought his daughter was weak was because if he made the wrong decision, his place as clan head could be removed and all hope for Hinata would go away with his position. Add the fact that his daughter ran away from her hospital room, Hiashi was, for lack of a better word, pissed. As let out an inaudible sigh, he wondered if anyone else knew this pain.

A sneeze from behind the door alerted Hiashi and the advisors that someone was here. The door opened a few seconds later and Hiashi was surprised to see Kurenai walking behind the Hokage. When they made eye contact, Hiashi noticed the anger she held in her eyes. He wasn't surprised; while playing the part of an angered and disappointed father, he had made a bad first impression on Kurenai.

"Good evening and I thank you for coming to the meeting. I am sorry if I have interrupted anything but this is important." Hiruzen said and everyone nodded. "Now, I'm sure by now word has spread about tonight's earlier events." Koharu and Homura nodded but Hiashi looked confused.

"I was not informed about what happened." He stated.

"Since it is late, I will tell you the gist of what happened; you two should listen as well as you did not receive all the details. Hiashi, it appeared as though your daughter has found out about Naruto's transformation and was dragged to his cage by two of her classmates. There, some villager thought she was being held against her will by Naruto so said villager formed a mob to attack Naruto. Hinata's two classmates left as they saw the mob forming but Hinata was oblivious. After she was pried from the cage, she noticed that they were going to attack Naruto but Kurenai intercepted the first drunken chunin who was going to attack Naruto and engaged in a fight.

"Hinata then moved in front of the group of civilians just as they were about to strike Naruto but a second chunin pushed her away, unintentionally knocking the girl unconscious." After Hiruzen said this, he could've sworn he saw Hiashi's muscles in his arms tense before relaxing. "Naruto, who at the time was motionless from a shocking the cage gave him, saw her get hurt and went into a rampage; seeing the drunken chunin as a threat to Hinata. After that, well, he generally slaughtered the chunin and civilians. Even my ANBU were helpless against the rampaging boy. After they were all killed, Naruto mistook Kurenai as a threat because she wore the same vest as the chunin who hurt Hinata and attacked her.

"It was only because of Hinata that Kurenai is standing by my side right now. That, Hiashi, is what happened earlier today." Hiashi's expression was stoic but Hiruzen knew he was surprised. He turned his sights to Kurenai who nodded her head in agreement.

"It's true; everything that was said happened." Kurenai said. Hiruzen then faced his advisors and looked at them intently.

"The idea to keep Naruto in a controlled environment was an excellent idea and I still agree with it. _However_, the method of which was used was anything but excellent. As you know, that idea back fired on us and even more of my villagers are now fertilizer." Hiruzen said in a scolding tone.

"Then what have you come up with Hiruzen?" Koharu asked and the smile on Hiruzen's face told everyone that he had an idea.

"I feel that Naruto should be monitored and be beside someone at all times until he is capable of thinking on his own, or more human, whichever's better." Hiruzen let his words sink into the advisors' mind before continuing. "I, unfortunately, cannot always have Naruto by my side since I am the Hokage and cannot show favoritism. However, I do know someone that can monitor him and make sure he doesn't attack anyone." Something clicked in Hiashi's mind and he knew who Hiruzen was talking about. "I see you have figured it out Hiashi." Koharu and Homura later got it and were a bit skeptical about it.

"How do we know he won't attack her?" Koharu asked doubtfully.

"If she could stop him from attacking, why would he attack her? Besides, it is not entirely my choice; I am letting Hiashi decide if Hinata should or should not be Naruto's 'keeper'." Hiruzen said; putting air quotes around keeper. Hiashi had a contemplative look as he thought over the situation.

"I am not sure the elders will like this." Hiashi commented.

"They cannot disagree with it if it is classified as a mission. Hinata Hyuga, even though she is not one of my shinobi yet, will be given the task of watching over Naruto to ensure that he does not go on a rampage. So Hiashi, since you are Hinata's father, what do you say?" Hiashi sighed as he thought it over. With what he was just told, he would be crazy to trust his daughter with a psychotic killing machine however; Naruto was no average killing machine.

"I suppose that it is acceptable so long as Naruto behaves." Hiashi said and Hiruzen nodded his head.

"With Hinata with him I'm sure he'll be on his best behavior. Now that that's settled, you all may leave and get some rest for tomorrow is the start of a new day." Hiruzen said and everyone bowed to him and started to walk out of the room. He let out a content sigh; at least now Naruto had a chance at happiness and he hoped he wouldn't ruin it.

* * *

**So that's all you get from this chapter; violence and a fluffy scene...**

**I want to thank everyone again for reviewing, favoriting and story alerting this story, makes me happy that I can write an entertaining story for you... I just hope this chapter lives up to your expectations...**

**Jutsu names:**

**Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu = Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu!  
Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu = Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!  
Suiton: Mizu Kamikiri! = Water Style: Surface Slicer Jutsu!**

**Etto, I guess that's it so if you have anymore questions, just ask me through PM or review... Oh and if you are reading my story Trials of the Hanyō Brothers then the poll is still up so if you haven't already, go at it!**

**Next Chapter: New friend or new owner?  
_[I'm not 100% about the chapter's title so don't be surprised if when chapter 3 comes out, the title isn't the same...]_**

**Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it...**


	3. Bringing him home

**Yo, it's been a while huh?**

**Yeah, it has and I'd like to apologize for it... its just... My AP class is taking up most of my time and it's really starting to take away most of my inspiration for all of my story... I mean, once in a while I do get a chance to work on my stories but not enough to update as I used to... So yeah, expect one update at least twice a week... For all of my stories...**

**I also want to say that this chapter... well, it's not as exciting as the previous chapter... This is more of the info kind of chapter that isn't as fun to write/read as the action/romantic ones... However, it does have a couple of fluffy scenes so... yeah enjoy!**

**Oh and two people who guessed for the title's riddle... nice! **

**Well... enjoy!**

_**Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts.  
**Arnold Bennett** **_

**Chapter 3: Bringing him home...**

**I don't own Naruto...**

* * *

Kakashi yawned loudly as he covered his mouth with his left hand. He turned his only eye to the sleeping pair and for the tenth time in the last hour, he chuckled. He looked out Naruto's den and saw the sun start to rise. Kakashi's mind wandered to Naruto's heritage and how'd he take it if he knew that his father was the reason why he had Kyuubi sealed in him. Well, who knows if Kyuubi is stilled sealed in him; maybe Naruto really did become the Kyuubi in some way; he sure did act like it sometimes.

Naruto started to sniff the air around him and flinched before tightening all his nine tails around and hugging her. A second later, Kakashi noticed two other presences making their way to Naruto's cage. He looked at Naruto who was playing possum as the other two presences came closer. Kakashi smiled,

'_The kid has talent for tracking; I'll remember that for another time.'_

"Dog." Said ANBU put on his dog mask and jumped out of Naruto's then and landed in front of Hiruzen, kneeling and bowing to him.

"Yes Hokage-sama?" Kakashi said and noticed Hiashi standing beside Hiruzen.

"Please show Hiashi where he's daughter is currently resting in." Hiruzen ordered and Kakashi nodded before standing and walking back to the cage.

"This way Hyuga-sama." Hiashi nodded to Hiruzen and they both followed after Kakashi who was smirking under his mask. He was thinking somewhere along the lines that either Hiashi would have a heart attack or would kill Naruto; either way, it would not be a boring morning. Kakashi stood at the entrance to Naruto's den and Hiashi looked at both men oddly.

"In there?" He asked and Kakashi nodded. Hiashi took in a deep breath and walked into the den. He stopped a few steps short of completely entering as he laid eyes on Naruto protectively holding Hinata with his tails surrounding her like a blanket and he also took note that each tail had a small amount of red chakra surrounding it.

"What is he doing?" Hiashi asked, his paternal instincts kicking in.

"By my guess Hyuga-sama, he is keeping Hinata warm from the night's cold air. Well, he was since its morning now but that's not the point." Kakashi answered, returning to his lazy nature. Hiashi looked at Kakashi with a raised eyebrow before looking at Hinata and Naruto again. He walked closer to Hinata and Kakashi panicked.

"Wait I don't think that's-" Before Kakashi could finish; Naruto's eyes opened and locked eyes with Hiashi. Naruto bared his fangs as he quickly moved from hugging Hinata to jumping over her still form and freeing one of his tails. The free tail made a horizontal swipe, causing Hiashi to move back to avoid getting hit. Naruto landed in between Hinata and Hiashi and growled at the new intruder.

"I tried to tell you Hyuga-sama, Naruto is very protective of Hinata. Ever since she was hurt yesterday, Naruto won't let anyone near her except for Hokage-sama and me for some reason." Kakashi warned and Hiashi kept looking at Naruto. They both continued to stare at each other until they heard Hinata start to stir.

"Naruto… kun?" Hinata sat up with eight tails wrapped around her and the sound of Naruto growling ringing in her ears. She looked at Naruto with her left eye closed and her right eye half closed. "W-What's wrong Naruto-kun?" Naruto turned to her with a serious expression before letting out a small whine. Hiashi took another step closer but Naruto heard him and began to growl menacingly at him, causing Hiashi to return the step.

"Hinata, please call him off." Hiruzen pleaded calmly causing Hinata looked up and noticed the three adults. She blushed as she used one of Naruto's tails to hide her face.

"I-I-I'm sorry… N-Naruto-kun, no, d-don't hurt them." She ordered sweetly and Naruto took cautious steps back while lowering his body. His eyes never left Hiashi as he stopped besides Hinata and then snuggled against her thigh. Hinata let out a surprised gasp while trying to maintain her consciousness and Hiashi tried to control his anger; he reminded himself that Naruto had the brain of a young kit, not a hormonal boy.

"See Hiashi, Naruto listens to Hinata without hesitation and he'll make an ideal bodyguard for her." Hinata stared at the Kage and then at her father.

"F-Father, what d-does he mean by that?" Hinata asked.

"I have decided, for your and the village's safety, that Naruto will follow you around at all times." Hinata's eyes widened and then looked at Naruto. He wasn't growling but he was on alert as he let his head rest on Hinata's thigh; his eyes never leaving Hiashi.

"A-As in… a-a-all the t-time?" Hinata asked and Hiashi and Hiruzen nodded. Hinata didn't utter another word as she let her mind wander with the idea of her crush spending every waking AND sleeping moment with her. After a while, Hiashi and Hiruzen looked at each other oddly as they saw Hinata space out. Hiashi and Hiruzen walked over to the two but Naruto stopped them dead in their tracks.

"Ok Naruto, calm down, we won't hurt Hinata." Hiruzen said, hoping to calm Naruto down. Hiashi watched as Naruto was studying Hiruzen before backing down. Hiashi let out an inaudible sigh and walked up to Hinata, on the opposite side from where Naruto was. He wasn't afraid of the demon child, just better to not cause a fight so early in the morning.

"Hinata." This seemed to nap Hinata out of her thoughts because as soon as she did, she blushed and looked at Hiashi with a confused expression. "Let's go home; you still have to go to the academy today." Hinata nodded as she stood with a bit of a wobble. Naruto used one of his tails to hold her up and another as a sort of arm rest so she could stand more firmly.

"T-Thank you Naruto-kun." Hinata said with a shy smile and Naruto let out a happy yip. Hinata giggled and Hiashi smirked, he had never heard his daughter giggle so happily before. At least, not since…

"Hyuga-sama, the others are leaving." Hiashi looked up and saw Kakashi pointing at Hiruzen who was walking besides Hinata and Naruto. Hiashi sweat dropped as he started to follow them; no one waits for him anymore.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Hinata stared at the closed door in front of her with fear of the unknown; how will they take it? Will they be angry, worried, scared, angry and hateful, annoyed… angry?

Naruto whined as he nudged Hinata's leg from the side. She looked down and saw him sitting by her side obediently and expectantly. Hinata smiled as she let Naruto nudge her again, letting her know he'd be there by her side every minute of the time. Hinata looked up at the door and took in a deep breath, letting it out after solidifying her resolve.

Turning the door knob, Hinata pushed the door forward and watched as everyone in the room turned to her and Naruto. Hinata gulped as she saw many eyes narrow at her entrance… and even more glaring holes into Naruto. Hinata tried her best to ignore the glaring eyes as she walked over to the table and sat down. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her father with the same stoic expression he usually had. She remembered well what he expected from her.

After they reached the compound, Hiashi had told her to sneak Naruto to her room and wait for his order to come to the dining room while he and Hiruzen talked about Naruto's stay with the elders. Hinata swore she heard glass breaking and many angered shouts of protest. Of course, the shouts didn't last long since an immeasurable amount of killing intent consumed the compound and shut everyone up.

As soon as Yoko, a female branch member, knocked on her door, Hinata knew it was time to go downstairs with Naruto. So now here she was, sitting on a futon while Naruto sat on all fours with his upper torso up as the elders and some of the other adults glared at both of them. Not exactly a wonderful way to start the morning but not much she could do about it.

"I'm sorry but this is unacceptable." An elder said as he stood up and intensified his glare on Naruto and Hinata. Coincidently enough, it was the same elder that would 'spar' with Hinata.

"We cannot let _that_ roam our home as if it did not murder all those people long ago." The man stated calmly, although it looked like he would snap soon. Hinata looked at the elder like he was an idiot; was yesterday really that long ago?

"Akio, sit down." Was the only thing Hiashi said quietly but the force and anger behind it spoke volumes.

"No, I will not sit down!" Akio finally snapped. "If it wasn't bad enough, we have _it_ guarding our heiress who can't even defend herself." The man shouted, mainly at the mentioned two. Naruto, feeling the hate coming from the man, started to growl as he fell into a defensive position.

"Oh what are you going to do?" Akio asked smugly and Naruto barked loudly, scaring everyone in the room and causing Hinata to subconsciously grab onto Naruto's shirt collar. Naruto looked up and noticed that Hinata had a sad, concentrated look.

"Do not provoke him Akio." Hiashi warned but Akio only snorted.

"What can this brat do? He's probably only a bit stronger than Hinata but that's not saying much." Naruto growled louder as red chakra started to leak out and wrap around his claws. His red eyes left Hinata's crying eyes and focused on the elder who caused her to cry. Only one thing was going on in Naruto's mind and that was this: the man was going to die.

With reflexes only those with experience had, Akio jumped back just as Naruto appeared in front of him and brought his sharp claws down smartly. Naruto let out a primal growl as he disappeared in front of everyone's eyes. Hinata watched as Akio managed to dodge most of Naruto's advances.

"You'll have to do better than that fox boy; I'm not like those weak villagers." Akio commented smugly and what happened next could best be described by an old saying: 'Be careful what you wish for'.

Naruto, seeing as he'd need a new way to approach the threat, let the red chakra on his arm stretch out and grab Akio who wasn't expecting Naruto to do that. Naruto, with a foxy grin on his face, reared his hand back and wrapped all nine tails around Akio, almost covering every inch of his body. Hinata snapped out of her stupor and stood and ran to Naruto who was applying pressure to the trapped elder.

"N-No Naruto-kun, d-don't kill him." Naruto looked down at Hinata and saw the look in her eye. He hesitated for a moment but after a second, he closed his red eyes and released Akio from the air. Akio landed hard as his face implanted on the hardwood floor. He was coughing as he tried to take in some air. Akio looked at Naruto with fear and hatred in his eyes, astonished by the insane strength his tails had.

Hinata was hugging Naruto's neck while she cried into his shoulder.

"P-Please Naruto-kun… don't kill… d-don't kill in my name… n-not for me. P-Please, I-I'm not worth i-it." Naruto had his fox ears down and was looking at the floor, his expression matching with one of a scolded child. This moment in his life, the words being said, the things he saw, everything was being engraved into Naruto's mind. He would remember this moment for the rest of his life.

Hiashi watched the scene unfold with a calculating eye as Akio stood up. His legs were trembling but his face was contorted in embarrassment and fury.

"Why do you only watched, the boy has attacked me! He should be executed!" Hiashi closed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I told you not to provoke him and that for the time being, he's still on edge from yesterday and any assault, whether they are physical or verbal, on Hinata or him will be ill advised. Even with this knowledge, you still decided to act against it. There is no one to blame but yourself." Hiashi scolded, causing Akio to scowl but say nothing more; he knew he lost.

"That goes to everyone else; do not provoke the boy or you will be killed." Hiashi let the threat hang in the air as the other elders and adults kept a wary eye on Naruto. Said demon was currently resting beside Hinata who had walked back to her seat. A branch member appeared from the kitchen and had onigiri on a plate, which made Hinata guess was her breakfast. She blushed as she felt her stomach dying from lack of food; she technically hasn't eaten since yesterday.

Naruto let out a feral growl as the branch member stood in front of Hinata, making the Hyuga take steps back away from Hinata.

"N-No Naruto-kun, it's o-ok, sh-she's not going to do a-anything." Hinata said reassuringly. Naruto closed his eyes and let his head rest on Hinata's thigh, making her blush. He then rubbed his cheek against her thigh and letting out a content purr, almost driving Hinata to lose consciousness. However, she was still able to giggle at Naruto's cuteness and the sensation against her thigh.

The women in the room, temporarily forgetting the earlier event, awed at the cute scene. The males were more, well, scared would be the word; how were supposed to be protected from the demon if the one who's supposed to keep it tame blushes at the contact?

"That is so cute." Muttered one Hyuga woman to another, causing the other to giggle and nod. Some of the other men scowled but didn't say anything; getting on their wives bad side was almost as bad as what Akio did.

The Hyuga branch member, who happened to be a girl, couldn't help but awe at the scene too. Hinata looked at her with pleading eyes.

"I-I'm sorry… h-he's just protective, i-is all." Hinata said and the Hyuga girl hesitated before waving it off.

"Don't worry about it. Besides, I understand; boyfriends could be so overprotective sometimes." The Hyuga girl teased with a wink and Hinata blushed. Hinata thought she heard someone coughing, almost choking and also someone getting up…

"Hyuga-sama!" But Hinata was too engrossed with her thoughts of Naruto as her boyfriend. She looked down at Naruto who was also served breakfast though it looked more like something that was found at the bottom of the refrigerator. Even Naruto knew that it was a bad idea to eat that slop. Hinata gave Naruto one of her onigiri and he started to eat it from her hand like a dog. Hinata giggled as she felt Naruto's wet tongue clean her hand from the left over rice.

"Hinata, it is getting late and the academy starts soon. Take your breakfast with you; you're going to need all the energy you can get." Hinata looked at her father and nodded obediently as she stood and headed to her room to her bag. Naruto followed after her but not before stealing another onigiri. He smiled with his eyes closed as he followed Hinata, the onigiri already getting consumed by the happy fox.

"Naruto-kun." Naruto looked up at her and knew he was caught. He chuckled as he ran past Hinata and to her room that was on the second floor. "W-Wait Naruto-kun!" Hinata said loudly as she ran to catch up with Naruto. He yipped happily as he pushed open the door and hid in her room. Hinata walked into her room but didn't see Naruto anywhere.

"N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata whispered, slowly walking to the middle of the room. She heard him panting, almost as if he was a dog waiting for his master to give the command. Hinata spun on her heels when she heard something behind her but she didn't see anything.

"YIP!" Hinata turned and saw Naruto appear from the closet and tackle her. She let out a squeak as Naruto glomped her and they both fell on her bed. Hinata blushed and blinked repeatedly as she watched Naruto smile down at her and smile happily. From under him, Hinata saw all nine of Naruto's tails wagging energetically behind him. Hinata felt her world freeze as she looked into Naruto's cerulean eyes. And then it happened…

She felt herself lose consciousness when Naruto licked her nose.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Hiruzen sighed deeply as he sat in his chair in his office. After he left the Hyuga compound, he and Kakashi returned to his office so he could be debriefed; what he learned shocked him. Hiruzen rubbed his temples as his conversation with Kakashi replayed in his head.

"_Nothing much happened after you left Hokage-sama… well except for one thing." Kakashi stated as he sat down in front of the Hokage's desk._

"_Hmm? Well what happened?" Hiruzen asked as Kakashi removed his mask; his tired, black eye staring into Hiruzen's._

"_Well, Naruto isn't as mindless as we first thought. A couple of minutes after you left, I was trying to remember the name of the Hyuga Heiress and well… he spoke…" Hiruzen looked at Kakashi with doubt._

"_He spoke?" Hiruzen repeated and Kakashi nodded._

"_That's right Hokage-sama, Naruto spoke. Only one word but nonetheless it was a word." Kakashi answered._

"_What did he say?"_

"_He said "'Nata." I simply wondered aloud and his answer was 'Nata." He noticed Hizuzen incredulous expression and chuckled. "Yeah, I couldn't believe it either but there's no mistaking it; the boy isn't mindless."_

With this in mind, Hiruzen knew that Naruto did have the ability to think and act more human. The only problem was time. How long would it take for Naruto to think like a human again? To talk, walk, act like a human? He sighed as he remembered hearing something that was completely true...

The only dependable thing about the future is uncertainty.

Knocking on his door brought him out of his pondering, after which he cleared his throat and sat up straight.

"Come in." The door opened and a man was standing by the door with his secretary holding him back. Hiruzen raised an eyebrow as his secretary straightened herself up and was about to say something but Hiruzen beat her to it.

"I'll handle it from here, thank you." His secretary nodded and without a word, left to her desk. Hiruzen studied the man in front of his as said man walked over to the chair in front of his desk. He was wearing a red vest with scale designs, a white undershirt, green pants and black sandals. His black eyes were hard to read. His black hair was a little past his shoulders in a low ponytail and last but not least he had a sword dangling from his left hip. The man had a smile on his face as he sat in his place, as still as can be.

"How may I help you... I'm sorry but what is your name?" Hiruzen asked and the man's smile faltered a bit.

I'm sorry, where are my manners? My name, Hokage-sama, is Lance Kumazuki and I have a proposition for you." The now identified Lance, said. Hiruzen raised his eyebrow in interest as he leaned back in his chair.

"Do you? It must be something if you think that it would intrigue the Hokage. So Lance Kumazuki, what is your proposal?" Hiruzen asked, earning a wider smile from Lance.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Hinata walked with Naruto on her left side and with a blush; the memory of her waking still fresh in her mind.

_Hinata faintly heard the sounds of light snoring and of occasional whimpers. She felt something heavy on her legs and whatever it was, it was pretty heavy. Suddenly, she snapped her eyes open and she sat up. She looked down at her feet and blood began to rush to her face._

_Naruto was curled in a ball, sleeping on her legs. She felt like fainting again… if it wasn't for the fact that she heard the door behind her open. She looked back and saw her cousin, Neji, looking at her coldly before his expression changed. His eyes sprang open and he ran to Hinata's side. Without warning, he kicked Naruto off of Hinata and brought Hinata up. He pushed her behind him and fell into the Jyuken stance. Hinata was too in shock of Neji kicking Naruto that she didn't hear him growling._

"_Stay behind me Hinata-sama." Neji advised but it fell on death ears. Hinata was in her own world while Neji waited for Naruto to stand but was surprised when one of his nine golden tails quickly encircled him and constricted both his arms and legs. _

"_!!!" Neji grunted before he was tossed to the side and head for the window. When Hinata heard the glass on the window break, she shook her head and watched as Naruto shook his own head and ran after Neji. _

"_Naruto-kun!" Hinata looked out her broken window and saw Neji struggling to stand while Naruto waited patiently for him to stand. Hinata ran out of her room and down the stairs. She saw her father but said no word to him as she ran to the front door and opened it. Almost immediately, she saw Neji fly across the yard as Naruto slowly stalked him. Hinata ran to his side and stopped Naruto from attacking Neji._

"_No Naruto-kun! Stop, it's ok!" She shouted as Naruto stopped moving but was still growling at Neji. The demonic boy was wary of Neji since he was the one who initiated the first attack. Neji stood, forcibly and unsteadily, and walked back inside without another word. Hinata, who was about to apologize to him, saw the look of anger in Neji's eyes. Before she was given a chance to think, Hiashi appeared at the door way._

"_Hinata, I think it is best if you head for the academy now." Hinata nodded as she started to walk out of her front yard, with Naruto walking beside her and keeping an eye on her home. Hinata let out an inaudible sigh, she knew she had some work to do with Naruto, especially with how her life in school was. She was sure if would blink at the wrong time; someone would be going away in a body bag._

Now here was Hinata, staring at Naruto who was blissfully and obliviously happy while staring back at her with a smile. He let out an energetic bark as Hinata smiled shyly and blushed. Even now, Naruto's cheerful demeanor and smiles made her blush. She couldn't help but get on her knees and hug him; something she always wanted to do. Then a thought came to her; since when did she have the confidence to hug anyone, let alone Naruto of all people?

Was it because of all the stress she experienced was starting to get the best of her? Or was it because she knew that he was only a mindless killing machine who obeyed her without hesitation? That no matter what she did, he would still listen to her?

Deep within her, Hinata knew it was the latter. She didn't know how Naruto would react if he was back to normal and she hugged him. He would probably push her away and look at her like she was crazy. Now, in his new state, she knew he wouldn't do that, he was just too loyal. She let him go and stood up before continuing her trek to the academy. She then caught the eyes of everyone around her and she noticed the glares she was receiving. What was going on? Why were they glaring at her, what did she do?

She heard Naruto growl lowly as he looked around with some paranoia. She watched as people mumbled under their breafths and discussed with each other about something. And then it hit her; they were glaring at her because she was with Naruto. It did make sense; he was different in every sense of the word compared to others and his new look didn't help. But to take that and have so much hate for it at such a degree was insane.

Hinata sighed contently as she reached the academy with everyone in one piece. She felt nervous about going into the class and basically re-introducing Naruto to everyone. Naruto seemed to have sensed her nervousness and rubbed his head against her leg. Hinata looked down and watched Naruto bite down on her black pants and start to pull her towards the academy.

Hinata patted Naruto's head and took in a deep breath. After she felt her heart beat return to its normal pace, she walked up to the academy and walked down the hall, her mind coming up with scenarios on how her class will take in the new Naruto. As she saw the door that led to her classroom, she started having second thoughts and looked down at Naruto to evaluate his reaction.

Naruto, from what she could tell, was excited. His nine tails were all swinging energetically and his ears twitched violently as all the new sounds he was hearing animated him. Hinata giggled at him as she watched his eyes scan the door in front of him before looking up at her with a gleam in his eyes. She blushed as she nodded her head and he nodded back with his tongue hanging from his open mouth.

Hinata turned the knob of the door and pushed it forward. The first person Hinata saw was Iruka who was sitting on his chair waiting for the school day to start. He looked up and smiled at her before his eyes landed on Naruto and widened. She wasn't surprised by his expression and began to touch the tip of her index fingers together out of her shy habit when he looked back at her.

She stepped forward and walked into the room, with Naruto walking behind her. The first thing the entire class saw after Hinata was Naruto on all fours, all nine golden tails wagging, his two golden fox ears twitching and his deep blue eyes looking all over the room.

"A-Ano… G-Good m-m-morning." Her reply was silence…

**

* * *

**

Well I would've gone farther but I really need to work on my school work, sorry...

**I know and would once again want to apologize for my slow updates... Also for the lack of excitment in this chapter but again, school SUX!!! I promise that either after the next chapter or the one after that, we will get a time skip to when they get put into teams... Whether or not Naruto becomes a ninja like in the anime or Hinata's personal bodyguard but doesn't count as a teammate like in EDelta88's story... whether or not that's the case, I promise to make my story as original as I possibly can...**

**I hate plagiarism when outside of school... Seriously, it'd be stupid to do that crap, especially when it's posted worldwide for everyoneto see... I don't know but whatever... And I'm dead serious about this... DO NOT ACCUSE ME OF PLAGIARISM!**

**That is one thing that irritates me to no end... That's pointless and I wouldn't feel proud about my story[ies]... All my stories were either from my own imagination, from challenges or from random inspiration from random songs/movies/tv shows... **

**Whatever, moving on... **

**Next Chapter: Uhm, are you serious?**

**Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it...**


	4. Uhm, are you serious?

**Hey, its me! And here's the fourth chapter to DC+AB...**

**From now on, that's what I'm going to put whenever I repeat the title... Mostly cuz its troublesome typing the whole chapter again... I'll only type it out when I have to but for now, DC+AB it is...**

**Sorry but school's a pain...**

**Hope ya like it!**

**Enjoy...**

**_"We cannot change anything until we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses."_  
~C. G. Jung**

**Chapter 4: ****Uhm, are you serious?**

******I don't own Naruto...**

* * *

Hinata dared not look up as she heard her classmates murmur, obviously about Naruto's new look. She looked at Naruto and she saw the happiness in his eyes be replaced with doubt and fear.

"Hinata?" Hinata looked to her right and saw Iruka looking at Naruto warily. "Is… is this who I think it is?" He asked, not believing his eyes. Hinata looked up at him with a blush and blinking repeatedly before nodding.

"A-Ano, this i-is N-N-Naruto-kun." She said and everyone gasped, well, those who didn't know. Sakura and Ino were looking at Naruto, still amazed by his new look but not surprised by it.

"This is a joke, it has to be." A kid shouted in the back. Naruto whined a little and moved behind Hinata before it turned into a growl.

"Akira, hold your tongue!" Iruka scolded.

"It has to be though," A new voice, one Hinata knew belonged to Kiba, said as he walked to the front of the class. He stood in front of Naruto and Hinata, looking between the nervous yet alert two. Naruto's growling became fiercer, not sure what to label the unknown kid; threat or not.

"He looks ridiculous." Kiba touched Naruto's ear but immediately retracted for two reasons. One; it felt too real to be fake and two; he wanted to keep his hand attached to his wrist. Naruto, still trying to make up his mind, reacted naturally and tried to bite the hand but he wasn't quick enough. Hinata, to prevent Naruto from attacking Kiba, hugged him with a dark blush.

"N-No Naruto-kun, d-don't attack a-anyone." Hinata ordered and Naruto snuggled against Hinata's neck while keeping an observant eye on Kiba. Hinata's blush became even darker, which everyone thought was impossible, and Naruto purred softly.

"Hinata." Hinata squeaked at the mention of her name and looked up to see Sakura and Ino stand from their seat. "I'm glad that you and Naruto are ok but… what happened after we left?" Ino asked and Hinata shrunk under her tan sweater when everyone, including Iruka, looked at the four with disbelief.

"What do you mean Ino?" Kiba asked after he moved a safe enough distance away from Naruto.

"She means that yesterday, Ino and I saw Naruto in a cage so we brought Hinata to see him. Then people started to crowd the cage and they took me and Ino away but we don't know what happened after that." Sakura answered and then everyone looked at Hinata who wished she could disappear from sight.

"So, are you going to explain?" Kiba asked a little forcefully making Naruto glare at him.

"K-Kiba, p-please calm down o-or Naruto-kun w-will attack again." Hinata warned.

"Kiba, go back to your seat, now!" Iruka ordered and Kiba grumbled under his breath as he followed Iruka's order.

"Hinata, if you want to, we'd all like to hear what happened." Hinata was glad that Iruka was giving Hinata the option of backing out of the obvious awkward story but wasn't expecting someone else to answer.

"'Nata… save… fox." Everyone looked at Naruto who was still snuggling Hinata's neck and smiling cheekily, not unlike his old self.

"N-N-Naruto…k-kun, you c-can talk?" Hinata asked incredulous and Naruto tilted his head to the side, his fox ears twitching wildly along with his tails. Every girl in the room squealed, forgetting the fact that the cause for their squeal was Naruto of all people. Hinata subconsciously tightened her hold on Naruto while eyeing the entire classroom.

"Hinata, before Naruto gets glomped by every girl here, please explain what happened." Iruka said and Hinata became nervous again. Should she tell them about Naruto slaughtering a quarter of the civilian populace or make something up?

"W-Well… a-ano, after I-Ino and Sakura left, I s-stayed to help N-Naruto-kun from being a-attacked from the v-v-villagers and…" She looked at Naruto who looked back at her with a cautious but otherwise care-free look.

"I-I was knocked unconscious by a-a drunk villager and when I woke up… m-my father, Hokage-sama, and an A-ANBU were watching as N-Naruto-kun protected me w-while I slept." She said, which wasn't a total lie, but she did skip a part.

"I see. Well, now that that's out of the way, please return to your usual seats." Iruka ordered but Hinata was hesitant.

"A-Actually Iruka-sensei, N-N-Naruto-kun is supposed t-to be around me at a-all times." She said and Iruka looked skeptical but nodded.

"Sure." Hinata smiled as she went to go sit in her seat while Naruto followed after her, his golden tails wagging happily behind him. The girls seating near the edge of the desks were trying desperately not to reach out and pet Naruto's cute ears and tails. When Hinata sat down on her seat, Naruto laid comfortably beside her feet, once again provoking a blush when he snuggled her leg.

"Alright, let's start off the day with a review of the substitution jutsu…" Hinata drowned out Iruka's voice as her left hand went down and started to play with Naruto's ear. He purred silently at the feel of her soft hand on his ear. She stifled a giggle as he moved his head around her hand, making her scratch his head.

A couple of minutes into class, Naruto, being who he is now and was before his change, started to become restless. He had crawled around Hinata's chair and ended up tickling her every time one of his tails rubbed against her exposed legs. She had managed to stifle a couple of giggles but some were able to get past her guard.

Iruka was pretending that he didn't hear her; he was still happy that Naruto wasn't killed or anything. However, considering how everyone behaved earlier, there was no doubt that the news would travel to their parents and all hell would break loose… at least for the academy and the Hokage.

Naruto sighed as he rested his chin on top of Hinata's left foot while she listened to Iruka's lecture. He looked around the room and noticed that at least half of the females in the room were looking at him. Naruto smiled at some but wondered why some got red in the face and looked away. Others smiled back and he was happy about that.

Not only had he noticed this but so had Hinata. However, her kind nature prevented her from acting mean but on the inside, she was seeing red. Even then, the worse thought she had was that at least one girl fall and ruin her outfit. Hinata even mentally sweat dropped at how innocent she was.

When the bell rang for lunch, Hinata and Naruto were the first to leave the classroom. Iruka blinked a couple of times before Hinata's actions registered in his mind.

Outside the academy, Hinata panted as Naruto waited for her to catch her breath. He really didn't know what was going on, in fact, he didn't care, Hinata was near and that's all he really cared about.

After finally catching her breath, Hinata looked at Naruto who was smiling happily and looking at his tails as they wagged. Hinata giggled when his smile disappeared and all his attention was on the tails wagging behind him. He seemed to be entranced by their movements, as if they were the most interesting thing in the world and nothing else existed except him and his tails. His head was smartly moving left and right, trying to keep his eyes on them.

Hinata's giggles grew when Naruto started to chase his tails, at one point turning around clockwise, then counter-clockwise and finally he jumped up but missed and fell on his back.

Naruto was distracted from his tails when he heard Hinata's giggles. He smiled and started to circle her like a hungry predator while she was oblivious to his movements. His eyes remained on Hinata as her fits of giggles started to die down and noticed Naruto eyeing her. The intensity of his stare made her blush.

"N-Naruto-kun?" At the sound of his name, Naruto bent down and pounced Hinata.

***.*.*.***

Sakura wandered around the academy, her mind mostly on Naruto and Hinata. She was happy that both were okay considering what happened the previous day. Though, she was really curious as to why Naruto went through the odd change.

"AH!" Sakura gasped and looked around for the person the yell belonged to. She decided to follow it but upon seeing the reason for the yell, Sakura wanted to walk away.

"N-No… N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata said in between her laughter. She was being tickled by all nine of Naruto's tails and from her position; Sakura knew Hinata had no way of escaping. Sakura managed to sneak away without getting noticed by the two.

With her back against the wall, she thought back on the image in her mind and smiled; she was happy for Hinata. For as long as she had known the shy girl, Sakura knew Hinata always liked Naruto and now, she was all he was focused on.

If Sakura would've been honest with herself, she would've admitted that she felt jealous that Hinata had Naruto's undivided attention. However, before the thought could actually register in her mind, she dismissed the odd feeling as her 'sixth sense'.

As anyone in the honorary Sasuke fan club would brag about, they each developed their own 'sixth sense' that told them when Sasuke needed their attention immediately. For some reason, Sakura's 'sixth sense' hadn't been as active as it had been a year ago.

However, her inner-fangirl had managed to categorize it as an odd phenomenon and should be left alone for now.

Back to Hinata and Naruto, after making her cry, Naruto had immediately stopped and was whining lowly while he waited for Hinata to compose herself. He had wiped away her tears with his tails and then waited patiently besides her.

After Hinata calmed down enough, she sat up and looked at Naruto but was surprised when she spotted him sitting next to her with a solemn expression. She wondered why he wasn't as happy as he was a minute ago; it actually reminded her of a pet who knew it did something wrong and was waiting for its punishment. She blinked repeatedly as she thought it over; was he waiting to be punished? By who and for what?

"N-Naruto-kun?" She saw Naruto flinch and look at her nervously. "I-It's ok." She said, still unsure of what exactly made him somber but she just wanted to see him smile again, even if for her own selfish enjoyment.

Naruto wasn't one to resist a smile, presently or before his change, so, much to Hinata's enjoyment, he smiled brightly though not as brightly as when he was tickling her. She guessed he felt guilty for whatever it was he thinks he did.

"Come on Naruto-kun, I-I brought my lunch, its cinnamon buns." Naruto's somber mood disappeared like a drop of water on a burning skillet and his normal giant smile returned. He was jumping around Hinata as they walked back to class to get her lunch. She didn't really want to deal with questions from her classmates so she decided to get her lunch after everyone left.

Opening the door and looking around, Hinata saw no one, so she snuck in and went to her desk where her lunch was. She might have loved cinnamon above all other foods and adamant on eating it in secret so no one would ask for one but she was willing to share if the person was with Naruto.

After retrieving her lunch, Hinata quickly rejoined Naruto in the hall and left to sit at a picnic table right outside the academy. While walking, she noticed that Naruto was looking at her lunch, as if it would disappear if he took his eyes off it.

After making it to the picnic table, Hinata snapped her fingers and put her lunch on the table and a second after, Naruto jumped on the table and started to sniff the bag.

"I-I'm coming back N-Naruto-kun, I h-have to get something." Hinata made a quick jog to the academy and Naruto would've followed… "S-Stay Naruto-kun!" If it wasn't for that.

Naruto continued to stare at Hinata's lunch vigilantly while he waited for Hinata. As he did, his ears twitched when he heard footsteps approaching. Naruto looked up and saw four older looking students walk up to him. They surrounded him and he looked around casually as his tails continued to move lazily back and forth, left and right. He couldn't help but let a warning growl escape his lips when he saw their smirks.

"Hmm… I always knew you were weird Uzumaki but this is taking it to an extreme." The boy in the left said as the other three agreed. Naruto glared at them as he stood up on all fours but was brought down by someone who jumped on him from behind. Naruto groaned as he felt the heavier kid keep him from getting up.

The other four kids laughed as one high-fived the kid on Naruto.

"Good job, Haruko." The big kid on Naruto nodded as the four kids brought their attention back on Naruto. "What's this?" The ringleader of the kids laughed as he grabbed Hinata's lunch. Naruto barked as he used one of his tails to easily push Haruko off him and get in a defensive position.

"Hey, Goro, it looks like he wants to fight." The one next to Goro suggested. Goro nodded as he handed Hinata's lunch to the other three and they started to grab at the food inside. Goro walked up to Naruto who was in position to stab Goro with any of his numerous tails. Right before he did though, Naruto remembered Hinata's words and his tail relaxed. Instead, he ran past Goro who was spooked by Naruto's speed.

Naruto appeared in front of the three as they took out a cinnamon bun. He quickly recovered them and Hinata's lunch with his tails and ran into the academy just as Hinata came out. She blinked when he zipped past her and then looked back and saw Naruto head for the classroom. Hinata went after him and saw him looking at the doorway like a guard dog.

"Naruto-kun?" Naruto relaxed when he saw Hinata and smiled as she walked over to him. "W-Why are you here?" She asked and Naruto didn't react to it and Hinata forgot he couldn't talk, at least, not a lot. She sat in her chair and took out two cinnamon buns; one for her and one for Naruto who took the whole bun in his mouth.

With his cheeks puffed out, he crossed his eyes while trying to look at his nose that somehow got some of the cinnamon bun on it. Hinata giggled as Naruto swallowed the entire cinnamon bun and tried to lick the cinnamon from his nose. This only made Hinata giggle louder. She searched her pockets and took out some napkins she grabbed from the cafeteria and used one to remove the cinnamon from his nose. After she did, Naruto titled his head back and then sneezed but this caused his body to move back and fall off the desk.

Hinata smiled as she helped Naruto up.

"Bless you, Naruto-kun." She said and Naruto yipped. He begged for another cinnamon bun and Hinata happily gave him another one. This time, Naruto chewed the cinnamon bun as he sat contently next to Hinata and purred when she scratched his ears with her soft hands. She couldn't help but widen her smile as she enjoyed her lunch with Naruto.

**[*.*.*.*]**

"So, what do you think of Naruto's new look?" Shikamaru groaned as he opened one of his eyes and looked at Choji who surprisingly didn't have his lunch on hand, Shikamaru guessed it was just so he could talk to Shikamaru without getting distracted. It had to really bother Chouji if he wasn't eating while talking.

"It's troublesome." Shikamaru closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep.

"It's fake." Choji turned his head to see Kiba walking up to them. "It's obviously a prank but what the idiot doesn't know is that I'm not falling for it."

"Kiba, I don't think it's a prank, it honestly looks like he's changed." Choji said but Kiba shook his head.

"Looks like you fell for it." Shikamaru groaned as he sat up.

"I agree with Choji, Naruto isn't smart enough to take a prank this far. His pranks never really included himself except for the time he pretended to be Mizuki-sensei and tried to end school early. The only flaw in his prank was his transformation; it was crap." Kiba raised an eye brow.

"So?"

"So… if he couldn't pull off that prank, how would he be able to pull this off?" Shikamaru went down and started to watch the clouds. Kiba thought about it before scoffing.

"Whatever, I still think he's faking." Kiba said and crossed his arms.

"Where's Akamaru?" Shikamaru asked and Kiba paled.

"AKAMARU!" Kiba sprinted around the academy, looking for his now lost dog. Shikamaru smirked.

"Thank Kami."

**[*.*.*.*]**

Sasuke walked around to the back of the academy, hoping to avoid his fangirls and everyone else. His mind wandered to his brother and how much hate boiled inside him. He clenched his fist tightly while he barred his gritted teeth.

"Itachi…" He muttered out as he stood in front of the door leading back to the academy. He pushed it open and walked down the empty halls with numerous doors. He saw a couple of students through the door's window and he scoffed when the girls would fawn over him whenever they laid their eyes on him.

"Naruto-kun!" Sasuke looked up the hall to see Naruto burst out of their classroom and run towards Sasuke's direction with something in his mouth. Sasuke's left eyebrow rose when he saw Hinata run after Naruto with a worried expression.

"Naruto-kun! That's n-not yours!" Sasuke heard her yell as Naruto passed him without a second thought and continued to the back door. Hinata said a quick hi to Sasuke before continuing the chase. Sasuke saw Hinata leave through the door and heard many yells of surprise.

"What an idiot, right Sasuke-kun?" Sasuke flinched and hung his head low; he was found…

"Who?" Sasuke turned nonchalantly and tucked his hands in his pockets. He gave Ino a blank stare that she registered as him not really interested in what she had to say.

"Who else? Naruto of course." She said and put her left hand on her hip and put all her weight on her left leg. "He's just doing this to take your spotlight."

"I wouldn't mind that." Sasuke said to himself but Ino apparently didn't hear him.

"Don't worry Sasuke-kun, I'll always love you!" Ino said and when she blew a kiss to him, Sasuke saw it rushing towards him and quick. Sasuke glared down the kiss and Ino watched as the kiss fell to the ground. Without another word, Sasuke left Ino alone to mourn over her unsuccessful attempt to kiss him.

'_Naruto.'_ Sasuke stared at the tiled floor as he walked aimlessly through the academy. His bangs covered his eyes, hiding them in the shadows and he pushed aside the front door and walked out into the front of the academy.

'_What are you?'_

**[*.*.*.*]**

Shino watched the bug on his right index move across it. Instead of eating lunch, Shino decided to just study the bugs that inhabited the partial forest behind the academy.

"Naruto-kun! That's n-not yours!" Shino looked up to see Hinata run out of the academy and after Naruto who ran in between a couple of girls, causing them to yell in surprise. From under his glasses, Shino's eyes followed Naruto as he ran and hid behind a bush. Hinata, who wasn't too far from Naruto to begin with, saw him head for the bush and was now standing in front of it.

Shino smirked when he saw four of Naruto's tails wagging over the bush. He heard Hinata giggle as she reached inside the bush and pulled out Naruto's head by grabbing the sides of his face with her hands.

"N-Naruto-kun, that's not y-yours, g-give it back." Naruto's ears, which once stood up, were now down and he walked out of the bushes and walked to the left side of the academy.

Shino continued to observe Naruto as Hinata followed after him.

At first, Shino was a bit skeptical about Naruto and his new 'look'. He wasn't sure what to make of him since he wasn't sure how harmful the new 'look' could be. However, with what he's just seen, Shino knew better.

It didn't matter if Naruto's new look made him look like a young kit or a dragon with ten heads, Naruto would remain the same.

Though Shino was glad he wasn't a dragon with ten heads; he probably would've been ten times as loud which wouldn't be a good thing.

**[*.*.*.*]**

"What about you Choji?" Choji blinked when he heard Shikamaru ask him that; he wasn't expecting that.

"Huh?"

"What do you think about the new Naruto?" Shikamaru asked and Choji blinked repeatedly.

"I don't know, I guess the only real thing that changed about him was his look. From what I've seen, he's still the same Naruto we knew before except not as loud." Shikamaru smirked.

"And not that troublesome." Choji chuckled and nodded.

"C-Choji." Shikamaru and Choji looked up to see Hinata with her hands behind her back and Naruto looking at them from behind her with what looked like a white bag in his mouth. It looked very familiarto Choji… in fact…

"Hey, what's he doing with my lunch?" Choji asked with no show of his emotions, making Shikamaru flinch. No matter how monotonous Choji's voice seemed, when it pertained to his food in someone else's hands that wasn't delivering it to him, he would get angry.

"A-Ano, that's the thing… h-he took and… and… a-ate some." Hinata said and Naruto put Choji's lunch in front of Choji before disappearing before their eyes.

"N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata went to get Naruto and Choji stared at his lunch in shock. Shikamaru examined his best friend's mental state through his body language. Choji, though, remained still.

"Ne, Choji… you alright?" Choji had his fists clenched and started to shake.

"He's going to pay for that." Shikamaru commented to himself as he closed his eyes and sighed. "That poor kid."

**[*.*.*.*]**

Hinata put her entire head under the water and let it soak her face and hair. After a second, she resurfaced and took in a breath.

Across from her was Naruto, swimming happily around the hot springs located in the back of her home. Hinata was glad he had swimming trunks, otherwise, she would've fainted already, no doubt about that.

After confronting Choji, Naruto hid under Hinata's desk in the classroom where no one knew he was there until lunch ended. After that, everything was like how it was before lunch except Choji glared at Naruto from time to time but Hinata knew it wasn't true animosity. She just hoped he'd get over it soon though.

Naruto splashed some water in her face and she giggled.

"N-Naruto-kun."

"Yip!"

Hinata giggled again when Naruto dived underwater but his nine tails still remained above the water, making him look like nine different gold sharks. She noticed them traveling quickly around the spacious hot spring before appearing in front of her where he sprung up and smiled at Hinata.

"Hinata-sama," Hinata looked up and saw the branch member from earlier that day waiting patiently with shampoo. "Should we beginning the cleaning?" She asked and Hinata nodded. Naruto, who felt a disturbance in the force, submerged underwater and went to the opposite side of the hot springs. He then popped his head out of the water.

"I-I think he knows." Hinata commented and the Branch member nodded. "N-Naruto-kun!" Naruto looked behind him and at Hinata before going back underwater and staying down for a long time. After five minutes, the branch member walked over to the other side of the hot springs and lifted Naruto above the water by one of his tails.

"YIP!" Naruto panicked as he tried to free himself from the Hyuga's grasp but it was fruitless. Naruto went limp when the Branch member applied the shampoo to Naruto's head and tails. Hinata giggled at Naruto's facial expression and he looked at her with a deadpanned expression. After the Branch member finished cleaning Naruto's hair and fur, she grabbed a luffa sponge and a bar of soap and started to clean the exposed parts of Naruto's body. When she finished, she gently placed him back in the water and left the hot springs/bathroom.

Naruto was almost completely submerged; the only thing the giggling Hinata was able to see was everything above his eyes, his tails were under the water. His ears twitched and his tails sprung up as Hinata's giggles died down. His tails moved again as his head went underwater and he went for the shampoo near the edge of the hot springs. Hinata noticed this and panicked.

"N-N-No, N-Naruto-kun… I-I'm already c-clean." Naruto turned his head to the side and bit down on the shampoo before looking at her and going back into the water. His tails surfed to through the water and Hinata jumped out of the water in her one piece, indigo bathing suit.

Naruto jumped into the air and stared down at Hinata who was under him. However, Naruto wasn't expecting Hinata to duck.

"Rgh?" Naruto, wetting the ground under him, slid through the room until he hit a wall.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata ran over to him, careful not to slip on the slippery ground. She went on her knees and placed his head on her lap as his tails and legs were up against the wall and his arms were sprawled by his side. Looking at his face, Hinata saw swirls in his eyes and a goofy smile on his face.

"Oh, Naruto-kun." Hinata said with a smile.

***.*.*.***

Hinata jumped on her bed and put her covers over her body and just barely over her face. She heard Naruto move to the window and look out it. He was looking up at the moon and nothing about him moved; Hinata had never seen him so still.

The door to her room opened and Hinata and Naruto looked to see Hiashi sneaking a peak in the room. He was about to leave but was stopped by Hinata's voice.

"Goodnight, father." Hiashi hesitated to close the door.

"Goodnight." He said and closed the door. Hinata turned to her left side and closed her eyes. A single tear fell from her left eye as she sniffed. She gasped when she felt something gently fell on her shoulder but relaxed when she realized it was only Naruto's head. His azure eyes looked intently at Hinata as she stared back. He smiled faintly and she smiled back tiredly as she felt his nine tails wrap around her. It seemed that Naruto always knew what was bothering her and what to do to make her feel better.

Naruto snuggled his left cheek against her shoulder and Hinata giggled softly when he fell asleep and started to snore softly. She gently turned to her left side so now she faced him. She accidently woke Naruto up but he only fell back asleep when he saw her shyly put her right arm over him in a hug. She was blushed multiple shades of red at the contact but Naruto's smile only encouraged her to do it.

"Eep." Hinata cried out when Naruto snuggled his face closer to Hinata. Now, his head was over Hinata and in a different perspective, Hinata knew it'd look like he was protecting her.

She didn't mind though, much to her shock. In fact, Hinata had a feeling she'd get a goodnight's sleep, sure that Naruto would protect her from her nightly nightmares.

***.*.*.***

Hinata groaned when she felt something tap her shoulder. She was about to go back to sleep when she heard whining and felt another tap on her shoulder. She slowly opened her eyes and sat up. She rubbed her left eye as her right lavender eye looked around for the source of the whining. Her eyes first fell upon the clock on her nightstand and saw it was two in the morning. She then resumed her search for the whining though it didn't take long for to find the source because the source was sleeping right next to her.

"N-Naruto…kun?" She said, still half asleep. Naruto had his face scrunched in an angry expression before it became one of pain. She then realized that he was having a nightmare.

"Naruto-kun." His brow furrowed and tears were coming out of his eyes. He was biting his lower lip, up to the point where his fangs pierced through the skin and drew blood.

"Naruto-kun!" She said louder but not enough to alert anyone else who was still asleep. Naruto snapped his eyes opened and looked around urgently,as if he lost something important. His eyes locked with Hinata's and he moved over to her.

Hinata immediately wrapped Naruto in a hug and rested her head on top of his. His nine tails wrapped around them and Hinata could feel him shaking, not from the cold but from fear.

"It's ok Naruto-kun, it's ok." She murmured into his ear and rocked him back and forth while he continued to whine. It was something her mother had once done to her and she remembered feeling better afterwards. His shaking slowly stopped and his whining had been reduced to silent tears. Hinata was passing her fingers through his hair, remembering her mother doing the same to her as well.

After what she guessed was ten minutes, Naruto was asleep again. She slowly lay down again and kept Naruto close to her. He then made his tails pull Hinata closer, making his head going right under Hinata's chin. She giggled and started to play with his ears, rubbing the soft, furry ears between her petite fingers. She giggled even more when one of Naruto tails started to move.

Soon enough, Hinata started to fall under sleep's spell again and the last thing she saw before sleeping was the moon's light come into her room and illuminate the drawer closest to the window, more specifically, the bottom drawer. She smiled at the contents inside the drawer and let sleep consume her.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed it... I know it was pretty troubling for me too write...**

**I'm really sorry but most of my attention is on my AP class and on my other story, Naruto Uzumaki: Shinigami Chronicles... Which by the way, if you have read the story, there's a poll up... Please vote... Even if you don't know about it, vote anyways!**

**Ok, now back to the story... In the next chapter, there's going to be a small time skip and then we'll see how much Naruto's grown... after that, one more time skip and then, we'll begin where the series starts...**

**Remember, if you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask!**

**Till then!**

**Next Chapter: Naruto... speak... good?**

******Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it...**  



	5. Naruto speak good?

**Ok, found some time to at least finish this chapter...**

**its a bit... well, you'll see...**

**Its fluffy by the way ^^...**

**Poor Naruto -_-;... you'll see what I mean...**

**_"A kiss is a lovely trick, designed by nature, to stop words when speech becomes superfluous."_  
*Ingrid Bergmen**

**Chapter 5: Naruto... speak... good?**

**I don't own Naruto or any quotes...**

* * *

**[*.*.One year later.*.*]**

Hinata giggled as she ran through the Academy's halls and into her classroom. Without stopping, she ran into a small closet, just big enough to hide her and completely close the door. She tried to stifle her giggles but she was just too happy to hide them.

In a last attempt to cover her giggles, she placed both her hands over her mouth as she heard the tell-tale sound of Naruto sniffing. She loved playing hide-and-seek with him even though she always lost. True, he had the nose that was equal to an Inuzuka's, maybe better, but it was still fun, nonetheless.

She could hear Naruto try to open the closet door. She giggled; he had learned much the past year but doors were still an obstacle for the young fox demon.

From the outside, Naruto's ears picked up Hinata's giggling and his attempts to open the closet door suddenly became desperate. He yipped happily as he heard Hinata giggle louder.

"Hold on Naruto-kun." His nine tails wagged behind him at quick speeds as he saw the door open and a smiling Hinata stepped out.

"Nata! Fox find Nata." Naruto yipped and Hinata blushed with a giggle. She sighed as she petted Naruto's head; thinking about the pass year.

She had been able to teach Naruto how to speak but the progress was slow and sometimes frustrating. He refused to call himself 'Naruto' or even say pronouns like 'me' or 'I'. He always called himself 'fox' which didn't necessarily annoy Hinata but she wondered why he didn't want to say his own name.

She was brought out of her thoughts when she felt Naruto lick her hand. She giggled at the feel of his tongue on the back of her hand. She giggled as she started to walk over to her desk. She took out her lunch and laid it out on top of her desk. Naruto jumped next to the lunch and stared at it with interest.

"Miso Ramen?" As soon as these words entered his ears, Naruto's body became tense and his nine tails were wagging again. Hinata took out a container, popped the lid off and placed the still steaming miso ramen in front of Naruto. Without a moment's hesitation, Naruto crammed his face into the container and started devouring its contents.

Hinata took out her own lunch and began eating her rice balls.

Her thoughts once again overcame her and she was enraptured in old memories.

_Naruto jumped up on top of the Hyūga Compound and landed next to Hanabi who jumped at Naruto suddenly appearing next to her. He yipped happily at her while she was trying to regain her breathing. She glared at him as he ran around the front yard._

"_Naruto!" She yelled and Naruto jumped away and started circling Hanabi who tried to hit him. He thought they were playing so when she tried to punch him again he gently pushed her back with one of his tails. This continued for a while before Hanabi tired out and sat down, exhausted and breathless. Naruto however still had a spring in his step as he leaped around the tired Hyūga girl._

"_Leave me alone… Naruto… You're making me… dizzy." Hanabi said as she fell to her back and had a far-away look in her eyes. Naruto hovered over her and licked her cheek. "I'm too dizzy… leave me alone… Hinata-nee-chan!" Hanabi yelled and within a minute, Hinata appeared outside and found Naruto jumping around Hanabi._

"_W-What's wrong Hanabi?" Hinata asked and Hanabi tried to point at Naruto but he was moving too fast so she just let her hand rest beside her._

"_He's annoying me again." She said and Hinata looked at Naruto._

"_Naruto-kun, come on, you can help me bake." Hinata said and Naruto yipped happily again before following after Hinata._

_Stepping into the kitchen, Naruto ran up to the oven and started to bark at it. Hinata crouched in front of the oven and smiled as she and Naruto watched the soft pale dough begin to slowly rise and become golden._

"_W-What… what Nata b… b-b…" Naruto struggled to speak and Hinata giggled at his attempt._

"_I'm baking biscuits Naruto-kun. Do you want to try some when they're ready?" Hinata asked and Naruto nodded vigorously. After half an hour of doing nothing but waiting, Hinata got up after hearing the timer go off and put on her oven mitts. Unfortunately, Naruto was eager to get some of the biscuits so he opened the over with one of his tails and used two others to grab the tray._

"_Naruto-kun wait!" Hinata warned but a fourth tail came forth and tossed a biscuit into Naruto's mouth. He chewed on it with a smile, unaware that his tails were burning. "Naruto-kun… you're tails." Naruto looked at his tails only to yelp in pain and drop the biscuits and lick his tails._

"_Are you ok Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked him and he whimpered as Hinata held him close. "Ah!" Hinata yelled as her leg touched the burning tray. Naruto growled at the tray as one of his tails pushed it to the far corner of the room and he opened his mouth._

_Hinata's eyes widened when she saw chakra start to appear around Naruto's mouth and become compressed into a small red ball of chakra. He let it blast out of his mouth and hit the tray, causing an explosion to rock the Hyūga compound._

_Hiashi, Neji and a panting Hanabi, along with other Hyūgas, appeared in the entrance of the kitchen only to open their mouth in shock and some even cried at the destruction of their hunger haven. Hiashi looked around and saw a giant and dusty ball of fur in the corner of the room._

_He slowly made his way towards the ball of fluff but stopped when it opened and revealed a safe Naruto chewing on a burnt biscuit with safe Hinata with her eyes wide as well._

"_I… I-I don't think you should come back in here again, Naruto-kun." She said and Naruto yipped with his mouth full of burnt biscuits._

Hinata giggled at the memory and Naruto looked at her strangely.

"What wrong, Nata? Nata no nom nom?" Hinata shook her head and smiled at Naruto.

"I'm fine Naruto-kun." She said as she took another bite from the rice ball. "See?" She said after swallowing the rice ball. Naruto nodded and smiled happily.

"K, Nata!" He said and Hinata giggled again before taking another bite.

"Nata," Hinata looked up and blushed when Naruto licked her cheek. She giggled while Naruto smirked widely and continued eating his ramen. She stared at him while he ate and sighed sadly.

'_If only you acted like this with me before you changed Naruto-kun.'_ She thought before deciding to pet Naruto's head. _'Still, at least we're closer than we were before.'_

**[*.*.*.*]**

Naruto opened his eyes and slowly looked around Hinata's room. It was night, that much was for sure but he didn't really know what time.

He carefully removed himself from Hinata's grasp without waking her and sat in front of the window. He looked up at the moon and smiled sleepily when it reminded him of Hinata.

"Nata…" He muttered. He glanced back at Hinata's sleeping form and smiled fondly. He slowly crawled back next to Hinata and started to sweat bullets. He lay completely on the ground with his head resting on his arms and inches away from Hinata's face.

"Fox…" He started but hesitated to continue. He might know more words than he did a year ago but he still got confused once in a while. "Fox… l-like Nata." He stated and watched as Hinata continued to be oblivious to the waking world.

"Nata… Nata like fox?" Naruto asked her but wasn't surprised when she didn't reply. He had done this for the last five nights and he wished one night, maybe one soon, she'll wake up and hear him. Maybe even answer back?

Hinata moaned, making Naruto's ears twitch as she turned to the other side. Naruto's ears dropped flat against his skull and he sighed sadly. He got up and walked out of Hinata's room, opening the door with one of his tails before shutting it behind him.

He walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, only to stop and retreat, remembering the last time he entered the kitchen. He walked through various hallways, ignoring the occasional sleepwalking Hyūga that passed by. Finally, he reached a door with several warnings, such as 'do no enter', 'restricted area' and so and so.

Ignoring the signs, mostly because he didn't understand them, Naruto opened the door and closed it behind him. He looked around and jumped on the couch sitting ten feet away from a giant TV.

This room was only restricted because this was Hiashi's private room where he'd either watch TV with his daughters or take a break as clan head and just watched TV and be lazy. The room was sealed up so no sounds enter/escaped the room when the door was closed and could not be penetrated by the Byakugan.

Naruto didn't know this nor did he care, he just liked watching TV in the middle of the night, especially when he couldn't sleep. Looking for the control, Naruto managed to find a snack or two in between the cushions of the couch. He couched up a small toy that probably belonged to Hanabi. Naruto examined it carefully before lazily swiping it away with his tail. It caused the small fire truck to clash against the floor and sliding near the door.

Finally finding the control, Naruto pressed the big red button and smiled when the TV turned on. He tilted his head to the left when the first thing that he saw was a man and a woman kissing. The next thing that popped up was the man waking up from his dream. Naruto was about to randomly press buttons on the control until some other picture showed up but he stopped when he heard the TV speak.

"Tired of being alone? Want to share your life with the one you love?" Naruto's ears popped up as he sat on the couch much like a pet patiently waiting for a treat. "Well here are some steps you can take to let the one you love, or maybe even like, know that you love them.

"For the bold, just tell them you love them." The man said and Naruto's eyes paid extra attention as he saw a man just approach a girl and boldly tell her he loves her. It played two scenarios; one had the girl blush and reciprocates his feelings with a kiss on the lips and the other had her embarrassingly tell him that she was flatter but not interested.

"It's not always going to work out but you can always hope for the best." Naruto nodded as the man continued to speak. "Another thing you can try is get to know her!" Naruto once against tilted his head, not quite understanding the man with the funny white suit. "Spend a lot of time with her; get her to know you while you know her. Try to give out hints that you like her without looking like a fool or being too obvious." Naruto nodded sagely, finally understanding.

"Give her flowers, give her candy, give her something she really likes, be there for her when she needs you, do anything you have to just to show her you care." Naruto smiled widely as he turned off the TV and headed upstairs to sleep. Tomorrow, he would need his energy.

**[*.*.Next day on the way to the academy – ****Give her flowers****.*.*]**

Naruto yawned as he walked next to Hinata. He hadn't gotten much sleep as about ten minutes after he entered Hinata's room, some Hyūga entered her room to let her know that she had to wake up. Naruto still remembered scaring the guy half to death after barking at him. Naruto smirked as he remembered what he learned about an hour or two ago.

Naruto suddenly stopped when he saw a big man walking on the other side of the street with flowers. Naruto's eyes sparkled as he saw different colored flowers in the bouquet. Naruto stopped walking before crossing the street and follow after the man.

Hinata hadn't noticed that Naruto stopped walking with her, her mind too busy wondering why Naruto was acting so different. It was only when she turned the corner that she noticed she was alone. She looked around and retraced her steps only to see Naruto turn another corner after some man with flowers.

"Naruto-kun." Hinata ran after him and after crossing the street, she heard something that made her stop.

"Hey, come back!" She sweat dropped when she saw Naruto run to her with flowers in his mouth. He stopped in front of her and his nine tails waved happily and energetically behind him. He dropped the flowers in front of her and Hinata blinked.

"F-For me?" She stuttered and Naruto nodded. Hinata picked them up and admired them… but only for a second as the guy Naruto stole the flowers from came back and was a big as an Akimichi after using their trademark jutsu. To say that he was a little intimidating was like saying that Naruto only liked ramen once in a while.

"Hey!" Hinata and Naruto tensed as the giant glared at them. Naruto started to run, picking Hinata up with one of his tails and used his agility to not get caught by the big scary man and not bump into others.

"N-Naruto-kun, I could j-just AH! I could j-just give the m-man his flowers back!" Hinata shouted and Naruto stopped and put Hinata down. They waited for the big man to reach them and when he did, Hinata blushed and offered the flowers back to him.

"I-I'm sorry." Hinata stuttered and the man eyed her suspiciously before walking away. Hinata let out a sigh before looking at Naruto who was looking at the ground with a sheepish grin.

"Come on Naruto-kun, we don't w-want to be late." Hinata said and Naruto followed after her with his head hung in embarrassment.

**[*.*.Later – ****Give her candy****.*.*]**

Naruto walked next to Hinata as they headed for home. The academy was just as boring as it was everyday and Naruto had to suppress another yawn or his jaw would cramp and lock itself. He looked up at Hinata and his brows furrowed; his first planned failed miserably but at least he wasn't done yet. He still had about four other things he could try.

Naruto started sniffing the air and drooled when he smelled the delicious smelly smell that smelled like ramen. Naruto shook his head as he tried to focus on the task at hand. He was currently looking around for any signs of candy or something similar to it.

Finally his eye caught something. He ran across the street; once again leaving Hinata alone to her thoughts.

'_Why did Naruto steal those flowers? It… It doesn't make any sense. Maybe I should ask him.'_ Hinata turned to her right side but saw that Naruto wasn't there and turned to her left side but he wasn't there either. She did a one eighty but saw that he wasn't near her. She started to panic before taking in a deep breath and making one hand sign.

"**Byakugan.**" She said as she used her kekkei genkai to locate her charge and best friend/not-so-secret crush. She smiled at seeing him across the street only to wonder what he was doing inside the garbage can. She ran over to him as others started to crowd him, wondering what the demon pet was doing inside a garbage can.

"N-Naruto-kun!" Naruto poked his head out of the garbage and smiled at her. He jumped out and gave her a half eaten, half dirty/hairy lollipop. Hinata sweat dropped as did everyone else when Naruto yipped happily. Hinata chuckled nervously as she dragged Naruto away from the crowd.

"T-Thanks but no thanks N-Naruto-kun." Naruto frowned and raised an eyebrow as Hinata hurriedly pushed him home so she could finally end this odd day. Naruto's frown saddened when he saw the look Hinata had; so far, he was failing horribly.

He had about four other things to try but was he willing to mess up again?

**[*.*.Way Later – ****Give her something she really likes****.*.*]**

Hinata was tending to her garden which she loved. It always relaxed her, just thinking about taking care of her garden made her day that much calmer. She glanced to her left and smiled as Naruto sat next to her. However, what she failed to see was the bored expression plastered on his face.

A butterfly flew past his face but Naruto didn't even flinch. He was so bored; he wanted to do something exciting and as soon as he could do it.

From the corner of his eye and in his place, Naruto saw some movement and picked up his head and saw it was a fluffy, black rabbit. Hinata liked all things fluffy, right? He concluded she did since she always liked to cuddle with his tail.

Getting up and running faster than Hinata could react, Naruto burst through the Hyūga compound and outside onto the sidewalk where he saw the rabbit running away. He gave chase to it and as soon as it realized that it was being followed, the rabbit picked up its pace.

Meanwhile, Hinata was just wondering why Naruto was acting so weird and why he made her have to run after him all day. She finally made it past the Hyūga compound's gate and looked around. She noticed the standing guards were confused as well but were pointing to the left. She bowed and said a quiet 'thanks' and ran in the direction.

"Not again Naruto-kun. **Byakugan!**" She called out and quickly scanned the area, hoping to find Naruto. She hadn't seen him at first glance but she kept seeing two blurs passing her sights. One was small and black while the other was a little bigger and had nine swishing tails.

"Naruto-kun, oh." She ran in the direction she saw the blurs but it led her to a dark alley. She took cautious steps as she walked in, her Byakugan still active. She let out a sigh as Naruto happily walked up to her with a black rabbit in his mouth. His tails were wagging behind him, his ears were up, his eyes were closed and even with his mouth full, he was still able to smile. The rabbit itself was cute but it looked scared out of its mind.

"Naruto-kun… not again." Naruto's ears dropped and he whimpered. He dropped the rabbit and it jumped in Hinata's arms. "Poor little guy. He's so scared." The rabbit shivered in Hinata's arms and Hinata held it tight. She put the rabbit down and it disappeared the moment it was put on the ground.

"Come on Naruto-kun, let's go home." Hinata said with a smile but Naruto didn't reciprocate it. He glumly walked beside Hinata who was wondering why Naruto was acting so different today.

**[*.*.That night – ****Be t****here for her when she needs you****.*.*]**

Naruto somberly waited for Hinata to enter her room and sleep. She went to go get ready for bed and Naruto decided to give her some space. He probably wiped her out today with all his attempts to impress her and tell her he likes her.

He shook his head and scratched the back of his left ear with his foot. He stopped when he heard Hinata open the door and looked up. Hinata was wearing some dark blue pajama pants and a big white shirt. She crawled into bed and after saying a quick 'goodnight' to Naruto, she turned and became quiet. Naruto looked at her worriedly; she was too quiet, even for her own standards.

"Nata." Hinata looked back at Naruto and saw his worried expression. "What wrong, Nata?" Naruto asked and Hinata smiled sadly.

"Nothing Naruto-kun, I'm ok." Naruto shook his head.

"Fox no smart… but fox no stupid." Naruto said and Hinata gasped before sitting up in the lotus position and looking down.

"I-Its nothing, I'm j-just being a baby." Hinata said before quickly wiping away a silent tear. She was about to wipe away another one when she felt one of Naruto's tails do it for her. She looked up in mild surprise to see Naruto smiling.

"Nata no sad… Nata pretty when smiles." Naruto stated and Hinata blushed; she's always wanted to hear Naruto say something like that to her.

"Nata fox's… friend." Naruto continued and Hinata hugged Naruto.

"Thank you Naruto-kun." Hinata said and Naruto hugged her back with all his nine tails. She snuggled against his warm and soft tails as he held her close. They stayed that way until Hinata wiped away her tears and put some space between her and Naruto. She smiled at him and he smiled back.

"What wrong… Hi… H-Hinata?" Naruto asked and Hinata stared at him oddly. She shook her head and giggled.

"Today was the day my mother took me to the park before she… died." Hinata told him and Naruto sat there quietly.

"Fox listen." Naruto said. "Go." Hinata giggled and hugged him again. Through the tears, she kept her smile on.

"She was so excited to give birth to Hanabi. I told her I could wait but she kept saying that she wanted to bring me to the park. We had so much fun that day." Hinata said in a hushed tone.

"She pushed me on the swings, watched me go down the slide and even played in a sand box with me." Her smile disappeared. "When we went home, mother started to feel bad and I got worried. Father told me that it was natural and that he was taking mother to the hospital." She paused and Naruto held her tighter when he felt her grip on one if his tails.

"I never saw her after that." She cried into Naruto's chest and Naruto closed his eyes and placed his head on top of hers. "It wasn't fair; she still had so much to tell me, so much to teach me." Hinata cried some more and Naruto just stayed quiet. Hinata cried for a long time before she stopped and settled for sniffing. She got up and wiped her reaming tears away.

"I-I'm sorry Naruto-kun, I didn't mean t-to cry so much." She said and Naruto offered her a smile.

"It ok." He said and surprised Hinata when he crawled over to her and gently laid her on her back with one of his tails. He was now over her as she blushed the darkest shade of red. Her face heated up and her heart began to race. She felt like if he got any closer, her heart would jump out of her chest. However, her mind went completely blank when Naruto hovered over her and stared at her softly.

"…_do anything you have to just to show her you care…"_

"Nata…" Naruto lowered his head and closed his eyes. Hinata's eyes widened but soon closed when Naruto pressed his lips against Hinata's lips. He felt his heart race and then he broke it after he felt like his heart was going to remove itself from his body.

"N-N-Naruto-kun?" Soon after wards, Hinata fainted. Naruto blinked and sighed. He moved to her left side and placed his head on her stomach. His eyes slowly closed before he felt himself drifting to sleep with a lick of his lips and a smile on his lips.

**[*.*****.*.*]**

A lone figure walked through the forest of Konoha with a limp and panting heavily. His short hair had some dirt in it, making it seem like it was reddish brown. After walking for another minute, the figure fell to its knees and fell forward, unconscious.

Minutes after the figure collapsed, a man was walking through a trail with all his inventory with a tired sigh. He was only a few more minutes from reaching Konoha and finally taking a break from his journey from Takigakure. He looked to his left and was surprised to see a small silhouette resting on the ground.

He walked up to the silhouette and gasped at seeing a small boy in the brink of death.

"Poor child. Don't worry little one, you'll be safe now." The man picked up the small boy and with the rest of his inventory, he headed for Konoha.

* * *

**That's it... Sorry, its a bit... smaller than usual... Anyways, hope you enjoyed the fluff and sad attempts on Naruto's part...**

**And, who is this kid the merchant saved on the way to Konoha? ****Next chapter I'll explain who it is and why he's there... After that will be another time skip which is where I'll begin my version of the series... Who will be on which teams? What's going to be different?**

**What's Hinata gunna do now that Naruto stole her first kiss?**

**Guess you'll have to wait... Sorry...**

**Till then!**

**Next Chapter: I am who I am and my name belongs to me...**

**********Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it...**  



	6. Adapting to Change

**Hello and howdy do?**

**Sorry, i heard the old man from Courage the Cowardly Dog say it and its been stuck in my head ever since...**

**Either way, i'd like to state that I'm back! At least i think so... I once again found my muse and am back with a new chapter of DC+AB...**

**I'd also like to announce that I got a new BETA reader... Yup, you won't see anymore of my usual mistakes... I'd like to thank both KennethRose and Chewie Cookies for their help... KennethRose for agreeing to be my BETA and editing my horrible grammar and spelling and Chewie Cookies for helping me out when i got stuck and making me get off my lazy butt to write...**

**Thank you both for your help... Your guys' help is very invaluable and I hope you can continue helping me whenever I need it... Hopefully i won't be too troublesome ^^;**

**Alright then, moving on...**

**For anyone who's a grammar freak, you're about to hate Naruto... You'll see what I mean after Naruto starts talking...**

**For those who have momentarily forgetten what happened in the last chapter, Naruto tried to show Hinata how he feels through the directions of a paid program on tv and ultimately fails at his first attempts... However, he ends up comforting her and kisses her, making her faint... At th end of the chapter, a merchant finds a fallen child just outside Konoha and brings him in...**

**What happens now?**

**Read and find out...**

**_"We did not change as we grew older; we just became more clearly ourselves."_  
~Lynn Hall**

**Chapter 6: Adapting to Change...**

**I don't own Naruto or anything like that, just this particular plot and the merchant...  
Oh and I'd like to thank every single person who reviewed this story... I've probably been too busy to reply to some reviews and I'm sorry... So I just want to thank you all, your words of support and the confidence you give me in your reviews really helps me and drives me to continue writing...**

* * *

Hinata walked around the Hyūga complex with her eyes closed and her mind open. Her mind held images that continuously replayed the events of the previous night. Of course, she was still debating whether or not it actually happened, or if she had dreamed it all up.

Her entire focus however, was on her thoughts, preventing her from seeing her fellow clansmen's reaction to her odd expression. Even with her head in the clouds, she gracefully avoided bumping into others. She even avoided Neji who was seemed to be in a hurry.

Amidst her musing, Hinata faintly heard the sound of grumbling and incoherent words. She looked up and saw one of Naruto's nine tails wagging as he entered her room. She raised an eyebrow as she wondered where exactly he'd been all morning. Upon waking up, Hinata found herself alone on her bed, with neither hide nor hair of Naruto. It confused her greatly, and when she asked if anyone had seen him, everyone's answer had been the same: a resounding 'no'.

Silently walking up to her room, Hinata snuck a peek and saw Naruto hunched over her bed in the lotus position while continuing his disjointed rant. She heard a couple of grunts and occasionally, she heard him say her name.

She tried to sneak up behind him but he turned his head just as she took her first step and he smiled nervously.

"What Nata doing here?" He asked suspiciously. Hinata's mind went blank as she attempted to answer his sudden question.

"Ano… W-Well…" It didn't help that she kept staring at Naruto's lips which reminded her of the dream/event last night. Naruto's smile disappeared as he walked over to Hinata, tilted his head and stared at her with a puzzled look.

"Nata ok?" Hinata blushed. Naruto looked absolutely adorable; from his twitching, golden ears and waging tails to his curious cerulean eyes. Hinata stuttered incoherently as her mind went into a fluffy and adorable overload. Her eyes closed, her mind shut off, and her knees gave under her.

Naruto moved closer to her as he used his tails to catch her before she hit the floor. He stared at her peaceful and pink tinted face as he slowly placed her on the bed. He continued to stare at her unconscious face before smiling and bring one of his tails forward and the book being held by his tail fell in his hands.

"Night Nata." Naruto whispered happily before putting the book in his mouth and walking out of the room.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Hinata yawned as she sat up and stretched her arms to the sky. She rubbed her left eye with her left hand and looked around the room with her free, open silver orb. She blinked repeatedly as she wondered how she ended up sleeping in her bed. Then she remembered Naruto and him doing something suspicious in her room. She shook her head as she stood and opened the door to her room.

"Father?" Hiashi blinked as he stood in front of Hinata's door. He had his hand up in a fist, ready to knock on her door, not expecting her to open it just before he was able to knock.

"Ahem, yes." He coughed as Hinata continued to stare at him. "Have you seen Uzumaki?" He asked and Hinata shook her head.

"I was actually going to go find him." Hinata answered.

"…" Hinata sweat dropped as her father continued to stare at her with a questioningly stare. "Isn't he supposed to stay with you at all times?" He asked and Hinata gasped.

"You're right!" She ran past Hiashi as she ran down the hall and turned the corner. Hiashi watched her go before shaking her head.

'_I wonder how different she'd be if she was born a boy?'_ Hiashi thought as he went back to his quarters.

Hinata ran past many rooms and family members as she headed for the kitchen.

When she entered, she was disappointed to see that Naruto was not in there. She wondered why she went to the kitchen in the first place since Naruto was not allowed in after the incident. Deciding to go to the next best place, Hinata ran to the back yard. Again, she didn't see Naruto running around or sleeping under his favorite tree.

Hinata was running out of ideas and she could feel her panic start to take hold of her rationality.

"If you're looking for fox-boy, he's in the library." Hinata turned to see Hanabi sitting at the dining room table behind her eating a bowl of cereal.

"The library?" Hinata asked, clearly not believing her but Hanabi nodded her head.

"That's what I said." She replied and as soon as she continued eating her cereal, Hinata knew she wasn't going to help anymore.

Hinata still doubted that Naruto was in the library so she chose to see it for herself.

Pushing open the door, Hinata looked around the spacious room filled with books, desks, chairs and bookshelves. She didn't see Naruto sitting on any of the desks or chairs so she guessed he was hidden by the bookshelves.

She walked through the bookshelves, looking for Naruto while wondering why they had so many books.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata turned to the last bookshelf to see Naruto sleeping, curled into a ball with a book acting as his pillow. She giggled as drool streamed from his mouth and his ears twitched every once in a while. She walked up to his sleeping form and crouched down, petting his head softly, every so often touching his fluffy ears.

Her eyes turned to the open book/pillow under Naruto's head and her curiosity peaked. Hinata moved next to his head and sat down. She looked at him sleeping a while longer before slowly taking his pillow away while replacing it with her lap. Making sure he wouldn't wake up, Hinata turned the book over and 'eep'ed when she saw what the book was about.

Dating Tips for Teens

Naruto had the book opened to a chapter called "A girl's guide to getting the guy". She looked down at Naruto and wondered why he was on that chapter.

Naruto wrinkled his nose before he opened his mouth and then sneezed. Hinata wondered if he'd wake up but he was still dead to the world. Sighing, Hinata waited for Naruto to wake up, still curious about the book he had.

**[*.*.*.*]**

"So what do you plan on doing with him?" Sarutobi asked the merchant. The merchant, an athletically built man with dark brown hair and green eyes, stared at the Professor with a serious expression.

"At first I thought I would just let you deal with him, Hokage-sama. However…" The merchant said, taking a pause. Sarutobi mentally raised an eyebrow at the man's reaction. "He just reminds me so much of her." The merchant told him. Sarutobi nodded his head, knowing who the merchant was talking about.

"If I may ask sir," The merchant boldly said, "while the life of a child is important, why are you going to such lengths for this particular one?" He asked. Sarutobi looked around his office and sighed.

"The child you want to adopt is of a prestige clan, so to speak." Sarutobi started, intriguing the merchant. "If I do allow you to adopt him and his biological father finds out about this, then there could be dire consequences for this village." The merchant's stoic expression cracked as his eyes widened, if only slightly.

"Exactly who is this child?" The merchant asked.

"He is the child of Sunagakure's current Kazekage." The merchant's eyes were now the size of saucers as he comprehended what Sarutobi just told him.

"You're kidding? If that's true then what is he doing unconscious just outside the village's walls?" He asked and Sarutobi shook his head.

"He was very vague."

"He's awake?" The merchant asked.

"He shouldn't have slept at all." The merchant turned his head to the left of Sarutobi to see a man leaning against the open window.

He was a tall man with extremely long and spiky white hair tied back into a pony tail, with two shoulder-length bangs that framed both sides of his face. He also had red lines that ran down from his eyes, and he wore a horned forehead protector with the kanji for 'Oil'. He wore a short green shirt, a kimono, and matching colored pants; under which he wore mesh armor that peaked out from the legs and sleeves of his outfit; the only equipment that truly hinted at his cautious nature. His outfit was completed with hand guards, a simple black belt, wooden sandals, a red cloak with two simple yellow circles, and a giant scroll on his back.

"Master Jiraiya." Jiraiya showed his acknowledgement by nodding his head. "I'm sorry but I do not understand."

"That brat is special; he contains something devious and evil in him and when he is unconscious, it takes hold of his body." Jiraiya told the merchant.

"Are you saying he's a jinchuuriki? Like the Sage of the Six Paths?" The merchant asked and Jiraiya nodded. "Why would you tell me such information? I did ask you for it but this seems like an S-ranked secret."

"It is." Jiraiya said.

"Then why-"

"You said you wished to adopt him, correct?" The merchant stared at Sarutobi incredulously.

"You're… You're letting me adopt him?" He asked and Sarutobi stared into the merchant's eyes before smiling softly.

"You're going to have to be careful with him." Sarutobi said seriously. The merchant smiled and nodded.

"I'll take you to him." Jiraiya said as he pushed himself off the window sill and walked over to the merchant just as he stood. "There are a couple of things I feel I should warn you about him; nothing major but still."

**[*.*.*.*]**

Darkness…

There are no rules in the dark; no place to feel safe; no escape from the shadows.

To anyone else, darkness is a dangerous place to be in. To this particular child, however, he felt right at home.

As important as his father had been, he was treated as if he belonged to a family of thieves and traitors. He was resented and avoided like a plague and he hated it; he hated his life. It was filled with nothing but misery and loneliness.

He never left his home for any reason except to go to school and even then, his home didn't feel like one. His brother and sister were also very cautious of him or just ignored him. They feared him and he hated that.

His only known home was the darkness; the sweet and peaceful abyss.

Even now, in a room with almost no light, his eyes were adept enough to the point that he didn't need light to see what surrounded him.

He was currently in an empty room with a white porcelain-tiled floor, a single bed and one small lamp. The door, or where he guessed was the door, was near the lamp. It was apparent to the child that this room was used for the clinically insane or just a room where they wanted to keep someone in and prevent them from leaving.

He didn't care though; he already ran away from his old life and would rather die than return to it.

His musings were interrupted when he heard three locks open and the door magically appear, at least to him it did.

The light coming from outside was too bright for his darkness-adapted eyes and it stung when it reached his eyes. His blinked while raising his left hand to block the hallway light from his eyes.

"Who's there?" The child asked, his voice gruff and dry.

The child saw two silhouettes, one of a tall man with white hair and another of a man not quite as tall as the first with dark brown hair.

"Gaara." The man with the white hair said.

"It's you, the man from before." Gaara said, pointing at Jiraiya who nodded.

"That's right. We need to have one final talk. First, I'd like to introduce you to your new guardian, Roka Zuraki" The now identified Roka smiled at Gaara and waved at him.

"My… Gaurdian?" Gaara asked and Jiraiya nodded.

"He's agreed to take you in and raise you as his own." Gaara looked at both men before scoffing and looking away.

"I'm not falling for this again." He stubbornly said. Jiraiya and Roka looked at each other in simultaneous confusion. "Why should I accept him?" Gaara asked. Jiraiya blinked before crossing his arms over his chest and smirking.

"As I recall during our interrogation, you're not eager to return to Suna, are you Gaara?" Gaara's eyes twitched as he glared at Jiraiya.

"…"

"You're only other option is to stay here with Roka." Gaara growled lowly before closing his eyes.

"You have no other hobby besides torturing me?" Gaara asked and Jiraiya chuckled.

"Shut up brat and get up, we need to fill you in on a couple of things if you plan on staying in Konoha." Gaara stood up and walked over to Roka and Jiraiya. "It's a lot different than Suna, that's for sure." Jiraiya added.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Gaara and Roka stared at each other as they sat across from each other.

Roka had given Gaara a quick tour of Konoha and Gaara, the child that he was, simply scoffed silently and stared. Now, at his house, they had done nothing but stared at each other, waiting for the other to blink or to turn his head.

This began an hour ago.

Roka finally sighed and closed his eyes, tired of their little game. Gaara mentally grinned at his hollow victory.

"What's wrong with you?" Roka asked and Gaara blinked, not expecting such a blunt question. "You're so quiet and emotionless. Most kids are loud and hyper."

"As you've noticed during the last hour, I am not like most children." Gaara answered while straining himself not to kill his so called 'guardian'. One of the things Jiraiya had told Gaara was that he was not allowed to kill anyone. Apparently, Gaara's reputation for killing those who annoyed him had not only been talked about in Suna.

"I can see that, but why?" Roka persisted. Of course, he knew why he was not like most children but he just wanted to start a conversation with Gaara and unfortunately, this was the only thing that came to mind.

"A lot of things." He answered vaguely, making Roka sweat drop.

"…Like?"

"The weather." Roka raised an eyebrow. On paper, that would seem like a sarcastic answer but just the way Gaara answered that question, he seemed serious.

"You sound serious." Roka said.

"Is there any reason to joke around?" Gaara asked and Roka shook his head.

"What about the weather?"

"It's too bright; I prefer the dark."

"I see." The conversation ended there as Gaara and Roka stared at each other some more. With another, longer sigh, Roka stood and rubbed the back of his neck with his left hand.

"I'm going to go to sleep. Your room is down this hall," Roka instructed, pointing to the hall behind him. "And the last room on the left. The last room on the right is your bathroom. You are currently in the living room and the kitchen is right over there." He continued, pointing to the room behind Gaara.

"If you need anything, think twice before knocking on my door." Roka said as he lazily dragged his feet on the floor. Gaara watched his head to his room which was the first door on the right.

"Roka." Roka stopped walking and turned to face Gaara. "Why did you adopt me?" Gaara asked, his curiosity finally getting the better of him. Roka chuckled as he closed his eyes, his left hand still behind his neck.

"Because you didn't seem like most kids." Roka answered before heading to his room and closing the door behind him. Gaara thought over Roka's answer before standing up from the couch and heading for his new room.

"One last thing," Gaara stopped short from entering his room as Roka spoke. "You might want to get some rest; you got school in the morning." Roka said with a deceptive smile and Gaara shuddered for a reason he could not fathom at that moment. It wouldn't take long however; soon enough he would learn about the horrors of Konoha's Academy and its infamous fan girls from firsthand experience.

**[*.*.Time-skip: 2 years.*.*]**

Thirteen year old Hinata walked down the street with as smile on her face and a happy thirteen year old Naruto walking beside her.

Finally, the time has come for Hinata to prove to her father that her time at the academy was well spent. For in a few hours, she would take the graduation test and pass it with flying colors.

It was nothing complicated; just throwing kunai/shuriken, a written test and a finally jutsu 'inspection' of sorts. She looked down at Naruto and while she did smile, she was worried for him.

While his speech pattern had improved, his handwriting and all around literature was something totally different.

Still, she hoped he'd pass and if he did, seeing as he has to remain at her side almost all the time, Naruto was guaranteed to be on her team.

Amidst of this thought, Hinata wondered if Naruto still had feelings for her.

The day after he kissed her two years ago, Naruto had been as affectionate as ever; always snuggling her leg, licking her face whenever the opportunity presented itself and many other actions that showed his feelings for Hinata.

Hinata, however, decided against bringing up that night with Naruto. Why? Because she felt like she would be taking advantage of him.

He couldn't speak – at least well enough to fully express his feelings – and he seemed to run purely on instinct. As her father and the Third Hokage have told her once before, an incident occurred that blocked his consciousness and all he went by were his instincts.

Now, though, Hinata had noticed that Naruto seemed to have finally gained access to his consciousness and actually thought things through. He was now mentally capable of being alone without anyone having to worry about him attacking them. Yet, now she's too afraid to admit her feelings to him.

What if he doesn't like her anymore now that he can think? Will he think she's too weird? Too boring?

She sighed and hoped against all odds that one day she would finally tell Naruto her feelings without worrying too much about his answer; at least up to the point where his unknown reaction wouldn't paralyze her with fear.

Naruto hummed happily as he kept his hands in his pockets; his head up and walking with his hind legs; another thing he learned to do while at his stay with the Hyūgas.

Lately he'd been a bit more reclusive and… and just plain odd. He still hung around her, and was happy for the most part, but had been more hesitant and cautious than usual - especially around her. Another thing was that he had been far, far more aggressive around other males. Naruto simply refused to allow any male their age, and older for that matter, to get closer than five feet from her. He either snarled and barked, or brushed them away with his tail, or tails if the situation presented itself. The only one who is allowed to be close to her is her father but that's it.

Now, as Hinata stared at her best friend/crush, she couldn't help but wonder what exactly was going on in the mind of Naruto Uzumaki.

"Hey Nata," Naruto started, making Hinata sweat dropped.

Over the last two years Naruto had learned how to use his thumbs, how to speak a decent amount of proper grammar, to write it decently enough to pass kindergarten and stand on his hind legs and walk. From time to time however, he still liked using his tails instead of his hands; feigning ignorance and using it as an excuse to be a literature teacher's worse nightmare. The amount of times he had tried to get out of writing by walking on all fours was, in Hinata's mind hilarious, and in Naruto's literature teacher's opinion perhaps the most annoying occurrence in her daily life.

One thing that the young Hyūga had noticed however was the fact that he almost never called Hinata 'Hinata'; he always seemed to prefer 'Nata', and had been more than a little reluctant to change that.

"Yes Naruto-kun?" Hinata said, with a smile that seemed to be forced a little.

"Fox never think you knew Sakura." Hinata looked at him oddly. When she didn't answer him right away, Naruto looked at her, finally noticing that she was looking at him. "Hmm?"

"Are you doing that on purpose?" Naruto raised an eyebrow at this.

"Do what?"

"Saying it wrong."

"Saying what wrong?"

"Your grammar, when you talk."

"When me talks?"

"Naruto-kun!"

Naruto chuckled as Hinata lightly glared at him.

"Fox is sorry Nata; you know Fox is playing." Hinata looked at him a little longer before seeing that he still had trouble speaking properly.

"So, what was your question, Naruto-kun?" She asked.

"You knew Sakura?" Hinata nodded and Naruto scrunched his face up.

"She smell funny." Hinata giggled as she heard the sincerity in his words.

"She does? What does she smell like?" Hinata asked, a bit intrigued by the suddenness of the conversation. Naruto scrunched his face even more as he tried to find the right words to describe Sakura's scent.

"…She smell like… Sakura." Naruto answered, making Hinata blink repeatedly. "It's a funny smell; no bad like Neji's cooking but no good like Nata. She smells more like Sakura when she's around teme." Naruto continued, making Hinata blush at his comment on her scent.

"Y-You think I smell… good?" She asked hesitantly which Naruto quickly answered with a sharp and fast nod.

"Yup, you smell really good. You smell like Nata!" Naruto cheered loudly before donning a thoughtful expression. "Except when Fox no around you. You still smell like Hinata but… no that much." Hinata looked at him quizzically, not quite understanding what he meant.

"Huh?" Naruto looked at her with a sheepish smile.

"Nothing." He replied quickly with a faint blush on his cheeks. "Academy!" Naruto shouted with forced joy as he ran straight for the academy. Hinata watched him with weird combination of confusion and entertainment.

Shaking all previous thoughts away from her head, Hinata ran to catch up to Naruto. She giggled when he turned his head, stuck out his tongue, dropped on all fours and ran faster. She saw him burst through the doors and heard other kids yell in surprise and others yell his name in anger.

Running faster, Hinata passed the kids who were surprised by Naruto and saw some picking up papers they probably dropped from the bombshell that was Naruto.

She was surprised to see Naruto sitting in front of their classroom door, looking at it expectantly.

"What's wrong?" Hinata asked him and his eyes never left the door.

"Panda is in there." Was Naruto's answer. Hinata looked up at the door and sighed. Opening it, she walked in with Naruto right behind her, looking around the classroom cautiously until he saw the red haired boy he spoke of earlier.

"Why do you hate him so much?" Hinata asked and Naruto shook his head, his eyes never leaving Gaara's.

"Not hate but… there something about him." Naruto vaguely commented. Hinata looked at Naruto and then at Gaara who shifted his gaze from Naruto to Hinata. He kept the contact for a little bit longer before closing his eyes, becoming oblivious to the world around him. Naruto, however, kept looking at him before looking up at Hinata, keeping his serious expression.

"Nata, Fox want ramen." Naruto said with a goofy smile. Hinata giggled at his goofiness and nodded her head.

"If you pass the graduation exam, then…" Hinata hesitated for a while before snapping her fingers. "Then I'll make father buy you as much ramen as you want." Naruto's eyes widened, his smile broadened and drool dripped from his mouth as his tongue stuck out.

"Ramen!" Naruto cheered before sniffing the air and looking behind him to see the last Uchiha loyal to Konoha.

"Dobe." Naruto glared at him.

"Teme." Sasuke smirked as he brushed past the young fox demon and to his seat. Naruto growled at his rival with contempt and annoyance.

"Teme; I no like teme." Naruto stated and Hinata grabbed Naruto's left arm and dragged him to their seats in the back. Sasuke watched as Naruto was dragged to his chair with a smirk. Naruto snarled and scrunched his nose before putting on a blank expression and then smirking as well; his fangs making his smirk look sinister - promises of chaos and revenge hidden in his eyes.

Seeing it as nothing, Sasuke faced the front and cupped his left cheek with his left hand, recessing into his thoughts.

When Naruto sat down, his smirk died down into a sincere one as he looked at Hinata.

"Nata," Hinata looked at him and his smile widened. "Nata bring lunch?" Naruto asked and Hinata smiled softly.

"Not now, Naruto-kun." Naruto nodded.

"Fox just want to know what Fox gonna eat." Hinata giggled and searched through the bag where she kept their lunch. Naruto's smile disappeared and looked at Sasuke as his eyes glowed an eerie red before three Narutos appeared behind him. The first Naruto smirked with a sly expression as his image became hazy and changed into Sakura. The second and third Narutos' image also became hazy but unlike the first doppelganger who shape shifted into Sakura, this one faded from sight.

'Sakura' had the same smirk the previous Naruto did as she walked down the steps to Sasuke's level and sat right next to him. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at this but said nothing else. 'Sakura' just kept looking at him with a shine in her eyes that started to freak Sasuke out.

"What?" He asked, clearly annoyed but 'Sakura' seemed oblivious of this. "What do you want?"

At this, 'Sakura' got closer and closer until Sasuke held her back, preventing her from popping his personal bubble.

"Get away from-" He said angrily but before he could finish, he fell off his chair from trying to get away from 'Sakura'.

Sasuke was expecting to hit the ground and then glare at 'Sakura'. What he didn't know was that the first invisible Naruto placed a bucket of blue paint under his desk which Sasuke knocked over with his feet as he fell. Also, he didn't know what the second invisible Naruto went to do with his own bucket of blue paint.

Sasuke donned a confused look as the paint splattered all over his body. He looked up but saw no Sakura in sight. He glared at Naruto when he figured out only he would do something like that.

The original Naruto choked down a chuckle as he witnessed what his clones had done. During the entire event, Hinata was telling Naruto what exactly she brought for lunch, oblivious to his prank-in-motion.

"Naruto-kun." Naruto blinked as he looked at Hinata who was staring at him with a knowing and a scolding look. "That was you, wasn't it?" She asked and Naruto chuckled shamefacedly.

"Fox has no idea what Nata talking 'bout." Naruto replied. Before Hinata could call him out on his lie, Iruka burst into the room with a face as red and bright as a fresh-out-of-the-fire metallic material.

"Who did it?" Came out the calm, yet tense voice of the scarred teacher. He'd usually yell if he was angry but at this point, he was beyond angry. His calm, quiet tone his used when he was really angry was worse than any of his eardrum busting yell could ever be.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto cheered as he jumped on top of the desk on all fours. "Who did what?" Naruto asked.

"Who vandalized the teacher's lounge with blue paint?" Iruka asked and Naruto tilted his head to the left.

"Van… Vandalie… Vandoling…" Naruto tried his best to pronounce the word but he just couldn't.

"Vandalized; he means that someone messed with the teacher's lounge. How troublesome." Shikamaru said while sitting on the row below Naruto.

"Ah, Shika, Fox no see you there." Shikamaru sweat dropped.

"I was hoping you didn't; me and my mouth." Shikamaru sighed as he laid his head on the table and fell back asleep.

"Enough!" Iruka shouted, his patience already thin. "I only want to know who did it."

Sasuke stood and Iruka's eyes narrowed at him.

"So, it was you Sasuke? How unfortunate." Sasuke blinked as he stared at his blue hands. "And you were a very promising student. Be glad that I can't prevent you from taking the graduation test but you'll be cleaning the classroom AND the teacher's lounge for three months." Iruka said with conviction and Sasuke gaped.

"What?" Iruka nodded his head once.

"You heard me, now sit down and be quiet." Sasuke sighed angrily as he sat down, the sound of his wet shirt and pants hitting the solid chair, resonating around the classroom.

"Is everyone here?" Iruka asked, his voice still dripping with anger. Everyone suddenly heard fast footsteps getting louder by the second until the door was blasted off its hinges and Sasuke's fangirls entered the room. Including his top two fangirls, Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka.

"I'm gonna sit next to him!" Sakura yelled.

"No I am!" Ino retorted. Before any of the fangirls could sit near the terrified Sasuke, Shino coincidently sat next to him. Sasuke sighed as he thanked whichever greater being was watching him from above.

"Move Bug-freak!" Ino shouted and Shino looked at her from the corner of his eye before completely ignoring her and the other fuming fangirls.

"Girls!" All the fangirls snapped out of their rage and looked at Iruka. "I'm not in the mood to deal with this; go find another seat to sit in and let's begin." The girls mumbled under their breath as they searched for another seat, one closer to Sasuke.

"Now then." Iruka cleared his throat as he looked at all his students. "For some of you, this is your last day as academy students. For others, you will have another opportunity next year." Iruka smiled as he continued.

"Let's head outside now to start."

**[*.*.*.*]**

Naruto sighed as he stood besides Hinata outside the academy. The entire classroom moved to the back of the academy where the first part of the test would be taken. He looked around as he took in the scent of nature.

The sun shined brightly over the heads of many of the villagers that lived in Konoha and a soft breeze blew past the entire village. Clouds were yet to be seen but Naruto was glad as it would of ruined the beautiful cerulean sea that was the sky. A group of trees only fifty feet away populated the back of the academy, the leaves on the trees dancing as the soft breeze forced them to dance to its soft tune.

Aside from nature, there were three dummies with a red bull's eye painted on their stomach stood beside each other with at least five feet between them. They stood tall about ten feet away from the starting position.

One other target was hung from a tree and two were tied to a post which was being constantly moved from one end of the field to the other. All three were about seventeen feet away from the starting position.

"To pass this part of the test," Iruka began. "You are to hit the first three dummies as accurately as you can with the ten kunai/shuriken I'm going to give you." He continued.

"However, if you want, as a sort of extra credit, you can try to hit the other three targets. If you decided to attempt the 'extra credit', you will be given an additional three kunai and two shuriken. First up, Shino Aburame." Shino stepped up to the starting line, right next to a table that held five shuriken and five kunai.

"Will you try the extra credit, Shino?" Iruka asked and Shino thought it over before nodding his head. Iruka smiled as he placed extra shuriken and kunai, just like he said he would.

After Shino threw his fifteen shuriken/kunai, he managed to hit each of the three dummies in the center. He also managed to hit the target hanging from the tree and one of the moving targets twice.

"You passed this part Shino, congratulations." Shino nodded his head as he headed for the back of the line. "Next."

***.*.*.***

Naruto watched as Sasuke threw his weapons. He did better than anyone before him and now his cheer squad roared with approval and merriness. Naruto rolled his eyes. He acknowledged that Sasuke did pretty well but he didn't hear anyone cheer when Hinata also did well. Well, he cheered but that wasn't the point. She actually did better than any other girl who tried.

"Naruto Uzumaki, it's your turn." Naruto smiled as he heard his name be called.

"Good luck, Naruto-kun." Hinata said with a blush and smile and Naruto nodded his head. He walked up to the line.

"Will you try the extra credit, Naruto?" Naruto nodded his head sharply. Before Iruka could place the extra weapons down, Naruto fell on all fours and six of tails shot up. They shimmered from the strong sunlight that beamed down from them before small needles shot out of them and each tail hit each target with such precision that it would've put even a child prodigy to shame. The needles seemed endless as Naruto continued to shoot needles from his tail. When he finished, Naruto stood and faced Iruka.

Iruka shook his head as he wrote something down on his notepad.

"I would say it doesn't count but if you hit the targets with anything, I'm sure you could do the same with a kunai or shuriken. Though I doubt you can hit them with the same precision with a kunai." Naruto smirked at this.

"Fox passed, that's all Fox cares 'bout." Naruto said as he went back to Hinata, who was smiling proudly.

"I'm so proud of you, Naruto-kun!" Hinata said and Naruto's smirk changed into a goofy smile.

"Fox proud of Nata, too."

"Lucky shots." Sasuke mumbled. Naruto heard him and stuck his tongue out at him. Gaara appeared in between them. He wore a dark red shirt, black hakama pants, black open-toed shoes and a black, plain headband around his forehead.

"My turn."

"Gaara Zuraki, you're up next." Gaara slowly made his way to the line and stared at the targets.

"I'll take on the extra credit." Gaara said apathetically. He was tempted to stop Iruka and just shape his sand into shuriken to blast away the targets but he remembered Roka telling him that it was best if he hid his 'talent' until he became a genin.

Mentally smirking at a sudden idea, Gaara watched as Iruka placed the extra weapons. Sneakily placing sand onto each kunai and shuriken he grabbed, Gaara threw the weapons and used his 'talent' to change the weapons' course and hit each target dead in the center.

"Not including that _cheater_," Iruka said, emphasizing cheater while looking at Naruto who smiled mischievously. "You did better than anyone here." Gaara shrugged his shoulders and moved back to the rest of the class.

"Excellent, now that everyone's done, let's head back inside and take the written portion!" Iruka shouted with a smile. Naruto frowned and groaned loudly, letting everyone know of his dislike of this portion of the test.

**[*.*.*.*]**

After bombing the test, Naruto stood in front of Iruka and Mizuki as he waited for them to let him know when to begin.

"Alright Naruto, you can begin whenever you're ready." Mizuki said and Naruto smiled with a nod though inside, he wanted to punch Mizuki in the face. Naruto could smell the scent of a snake on Mizuki and on top of that, there was something about him that made Naruto consider him to be fake.

"You can do it Naruto." Mizuki added. Scratch that, he wanted to kick Mizuki's ass.

Naruto closed his eyes and the tail on the far right started to wag in a steady pace behind him. In the blink of an eye, a second Naruto appeared on Naruto's right, smiling while sitting on his hind legs.

Iruka and Mizuki wrote something on their notepads while nodding.

"Excellent work Naruto." Iruka praised and Naruto smiled proudly; he always valued what Iruka had to say about him. "Continue." Naruto nodded as he closed his eyes again and this time, the tail on the far left began to wag. The two Narutos' images became hazy before the original changed into an exact copy of Iruka and the second changed into the Fourth Hokage.

Iruka smiled proudly while Mizuki smiled as well, although it was more forced than Iruka's.

"And now the substitution jutsu." Mizuki said as he threw a mock-kunai at the Naruto on the right. When it hit, Naruto 'poof'ed out of existence. Iruka furrowed his brow.

"I thought we said to use the substitution jutsu." Iruka scolded.

"Fox did, that was Fox two." Naruto said and Iruka raised an eyebrow.

"So quickly?" He asked and Naruto nodded.

"Try again." Mizuki said and Iruka nodded, throwing another mock-kunai and Naruto. This time, Naruto 'poof'ed again and was replaced with a chair that used to be behind him.

"Outstanding job, Naruto. You pass." Iruka told him, throwing a black forehead protector with a metal plate in the middle and the symbol of the village engraved in it. Naruto, while on all fours, caught it with his mouth, bowed and left the room with all nine tails wagging behind him. Mizuki sneered before turning to Iruka and putting on his mask again.

"He did exceptionally well, didn't he Iruka?" Iruka nodded and smiled brightly, acting as if Naruto had been his son.

"I'm very proud of him." Iruka stated. "Now all we have to do is test one last student and we'll be done." Mizuki nodded as Gaara entered the room.

"Alright, Gaara, you know what to do." Gaara nodded as he made a hand sign to gather chakra and then made a clone that appeared from a puff of smoke. When Gaara saw Iruka and Mizuki nod their heads, he dispersed the clone. Without missing a beat, Gaara summoned up some of his chakra and transformed to look like Iruka.

"Good job, Gaara." Mizuki said and Gaara returned to his previous form.

"Now for the last part." Mizuki lazily threw a mock-kunai at Gaara and it hit his forehead. Iruka and Mizuki shook their heads but were stopped cold when Gaara turned into a light brown and dispersed into a pile of sand.

"So, how did I do?" Gaara asked and Iruka looked to his left to see Gaara with his arms crossed.

"You passed with flying colors, Gaara. But tell me, where did you learn the sand clone jutsu?" Iruka asked.

"From Roka." Gaara said and Mizuki raised an eyebrow.

"Your guardian?" He asked and Gaara nodded.

"He's… an interesting man, to say the least." Gaara stated distantly before walking up to Iruka and obtaining a red forehead protector.

After Gaara left the room, Iruka looked at Mizuki.

"That's odd, don't you think?" Mizuki shrugged his shoulders.

"He is a merchant; he could've found a scroll on sand clones during his trips." Mizuki said and Iruka nodded.

"I suppose that's true."

"By the way, did you ever find out who vandalized the teacher' lounge?" Mizuki asked and Iruka nodded.

"It was Sasuke. When I came in and asked my class, his hands were covered with blue paint." Mizuki nodded in understanding before thinking of something.

"But how would he get the handprints and footprints in the ceiling?" Mizuki asked and Iruka thought it over.

"You're right."

"we only know one person who could climb walls. At least, someone with handprints small enough to match the ones in the lounge." Iruka grew red faced.

"NARUTO!"

**[*.*.*.*]**

Naruto slurped up the ramen in front of him with much gusto.

Hiashi watched Naruto slurp up almost half of his personal funds.

"Uzumaki, can you refrain from making the slurping sounds?" Hiashi asked with a vein popping out of his head. Naruto looked up at Hiashi with noodles hanging out of his mouth.

"Fffx hoonkie." Naruto mumbled, making Hiashi turn his head away.

"Naruto-kun, don't talk with your mouth full please." Hinata said, holding back her giggles and a blush; she thought he looked so cute with the noodles in his mouth.

Naruto nodded in understanding and after swallowing the noodles whole, he smiled at Hiashi.

"Fox said 'Fox hungry'." Naruto repeated before slurping up more noodles. Teuchi laughed as he watched his favorite customer eat his thirtieth ramen. He noticed Hiashi staring at the ramen with disdain and irritation.

"Why do you bring him here if you know he's just going dry you clean?" Teuchi asked.

"It's his reward." Hiashi said with some pride. "It's also part of Hinata's reward." Hinata looked at her father while she put her chopsticks down.

"Part?" Hiashi nodded.

"I'm proud of both of you; this is Naruto's reward and you'll get your as soon as we head home." Hinata smiled as she ate her ramen a little bit quicker than before. Naruto looked at her from the corner of his eye and decided to end it at thirty one.

"One more, old man." Naruto said and Teuchi nodded as he went to fetch a second bowl.

"So Naruto, you're excited about being a shinobi now?" Naruto nodded his head vigorously.

"Fox always want to be shinobi. Fox want to be good like alpha." Naruto said. Hiashi was surprised by this answer, not knowing what he meant but Hinata knew.

"Alpha?" Hinata giggled as she finished her ramen.

"You, father; he means you. You're alpha." Hiashi looked at Naruto for a moment before closing his eyes and smiling.

"I see." Naruto smiled with his eye closed before he heard the clatter of a bowl being placed in front of him. His smile widened and he quickly devoured the ramen. He wiped his mouth with his hands and pushed the bowl back with one of his tails as he patted his stomach.

"Fox full." Naruto said contently.

"Then let's go home, I'm sure Hinata is dying to see her reward." Hiashi said and Hinata blushed.

"Let's go!" Naruto said as he jumped off his seat. "See ya, old man." Naruto said as he walked beside Hinata. Hiashi joined them after paying for the thirty-one ramens.

When they arrived at the Hyūga compound, Naruto burst into the home and jumped on the couch, lying down on his stomach and leaning his head over his crossed arms under his chin.

Hinata giggled when she saw the way he prepared himself for Hinata's gift.

"Stay here while I go get it." Hiashi said and Hinata nodded, sitting next to Naruto. When she did, he put one of his tails in front of her and two others at her sides; tickling her. She started to giggle louder as Naruto's tails became relentless.

"N-Naruto-kun… P-Please," She laughed until tears started coming out of her eyes. "It tickles!" She yelled and Naruto chuckled.

"That the point." Naruto said and he stopped when he smelled Hiashi coming. Hinata calmed down enough that when Hiashi entered the room, he only saw Hinata wiping away the small tears in her eyes.

Hinata looked up at him and saw him hold an indigo box.

"Congratulations Hinata, you deserve it." Hiashi said and Hinata accepted the box. When she placed a petite hand to open it, Naruto put his chin on her left shoulder and watched her open it.

"A forehead protector?" Hinata asked, unsure of her gift. "I already received one from Iruka-sensei." Hinata said, pointing to the forehead protector she used as a choker.

"It's not just any forehead protector; it belonged to your mother." Hinata gaped at her gift. She soon smiled and had tears in her eyes. Putting the gift down, she got up and hugged Hiashi.

"Thank you father." Hiashi smiled as he held his oldest daughter.

"You're welcome Hinata. Now, both of you go upstairs. You still have to go to the academy tomorrow to find out what teams you'll be in." Hinata and Naruto nodded.

"Fox likes your present, Nata." Naruto said as he followed Hinata to their room.

"Me too, Naruto-kun." Hinata said and Naruto smiled.

* * *

**First, I'd like to apologize if this chapter does not meet your standards and confused you...**

**Hopefully, it's not as bad as I think it is... Its alright but I feel that I've made a mistake...er, mistakes...**

**Oh, I want to make note that there has been a change in plans...**

**Due to last minute thinking, I decided to have the story start a year later than the anime originally had it. So everyone is thirteen [thirteen for rookie nine, fourteen for team Gai]...**

**Also, ass you've noticed, I've added Gaara into the chaos... His involvement in the last two years will be explained at a later time... Mostly because it didn't fit here; small part because I just felt like it so deal with it...**

**I'm sure there are still some questions on your minds that remain unanswered but I promise, sooner or later, all questions will have their answers and hopefully, you will be entertained..**

**Uhm, I don't think there's much else, besides that the recent Naruto manga chapters have somewhat improved, if only a little...  
*spoiler* I found it entertaining that Gai finally decided to learn Kisame's name right after his death...*End***

**However, Bleach has returned stronger than ever and every week I wait impatiently for an update... With what's going on, I feel that Ichigo can actually beat Aizen and sooner or later, we'll find out if it'll end up being ichihime, ichiruki or no pairings at all... Oh and that Gin thing totally took me by surprise... Who knew...?**

**Well, I'm done with this, I'll try to update as soon as I can but no promises...**

**Next Chapter: My beast is better than yours...**

**Till next time, **

**********Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it...**


	7. My Beast is Better than Yours

**Yo, its me again…**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter because it took me quite a while to do this…**

**Too tired to really comment and I'm sick… It hurts to sneeze…**

**So enjoy and comment or whatever, its not going to cure my sickness…**

"_**Again and again, the impossible problem is solved when we see that the problem is only a tough decision waiting to be made.**__**"**__**  
**_**-****Robert H. Schuller****-**

**Chapter 7: My Beast is Better than Yours...**

**I don't own anything and I'd like to thank ****Chewie Cookies**** for checking this over…**

* * *

Naruto hummed to himself as he stared at Hinata sleeping next to him with her chin in her left palm, supporting her head. His tails wagged lazily behind him as he watched other students enter the classroom, each excited to find out who'll be their teammates, which team they'll be on, and which sensei they'll be assigned to. He saw familiar and friendly faces as he watched his fellow shinobi enter, but also some unknown faces, and some he never cared to know.

He picked up a scent and narrowed his eyes and stopped wagging his tails. He warily watched Gaara enter the room with the same red hair, the same stoic expression, and, in Naruto's opinion, the stench of a demon. He, of course, knew that he was considered a demon as well, but he considered Gaara a threat to Hinata. He watched as Gaara sat at his desk, two rows below Naruto.

Gaara looked back at Naruto before closing his eyes and looking back at the front of the classroom.

Naruto still remembered the first day he met Gaara...

*.*.*

_Naruto sat next Hinata as his boredom slowly killed him on the inside. Iruka was blabbing on about… something Naruto didn't understand, and didn't really care about. He wished something exciting would happen. A second later, he picked up a scent that he'd never forget._

_The door opened, and a man with dark brown hair and green eyes entered with a boy with red hair and teal eyes behind him. The man was wearing a dark green shirt, black pants, and a black trench coat. The kid following him wore a red shirt, black pants, and a black headband that completely covered his forehead._

_"Ah, Roka Zuraki. You're late," Iruka said, and Roka chuckled sheepishly._

_"There was a small problem that made us late, but now it's fixed, and everything's fine," he explained as Gaara just looked at the ground._

_"This is Gaara, correct?" Iruka asked. Roka nodded and pushed Gaara forward. Gaara glared at Roka, but Roka only smiled and left the classroom. "Gaara, if you don't mind, I'd like you to introduce yourself to the class," Iruka said and Gaara glared at him._

_"I do mind." Iruka and most of the class sweat-dropped._

_"Well, do it anyway." Gaara nodded after he glared a bit more at Iruka, and turned to the classroom._

_"My name is Gaara Zuraki. I don't like a lot of things, and dislike most things. I don't know much of my family, and if you get in my way, you will be shoved out of it," Gaara said ominously. Naruto bared his teeth and glared at Gaara. Hinata wondered why Naruto was acting like this, while girls around the room started to whisper among themselves._

_"That was… something. Thank you, Gaara. Now go take a seat next to Shino." Iruka pointed to the empty chair next to Shino, and Gaara silently made his way to the desk._

_Iruka smiled as he continued the lesson, unaware of Naruto's hateful glare towards Gaara. Gaara, however, did notice, and when he looked up at Naruto, he glared back. Naruto took in a deep breath and let it out through his nose, simultaneously letting steam through it as well._

_***.*.***_

_The lunch bell rang, and Naruto and Hinata sat outside on a picnic table near the academy. Hinata watched Naruto slowly eat his ramen with a thoughtful expression instead of the blissfully happy expression he usually had._

_"What's wrong, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, and Naruto blinked as he looked up._

_"Nothing, Nata," he answered with a false smile, and Hinata shook her head._

_"You can't fool me, Naruto-kun."__Naruto looked away, and his ears drooped. He was about to speak, but then his ears pricked and he looked to his left. Walking around the corner was Gaara with a brown bag in his right hand. Naruto glared and silently growled as Gaara passed him by._

_Gaara looked at him through the corner of his eye, but then scoffed and kept ignoring him. Naruto barked loudly, then ran after Gaara._

_"Wait, Naruto-kun! Don't!" Hinata shouted after him, but he was too quick to stop himself fast enough. Gaara turned just as Naruto pounced. He smirked as a small wall of sand appeared before__him and stopped Naruto's claw. Naruto's eyes widened as sand appeared from nowhere and surrounded him in a blanket of sand._

_"Naruto-kun! Leave him alone!" Hinata shouted. Gaara's eyes connected with hers, and she could have sworn she saw them flash yellow for a second. He raised his right hand up, and the sand rose as well, still surrounding Naruto._

_"I told everyone; if you get in my way, I'll shove you out of it." Gaara hesitated to close his__hand when he remembered what Jiraiya had told him, but Naruto only needed a second to react. His nine tails pierced the sand coffin, surrounded by blue fire. They__retracted into the sand coffin, and Gaara's eyes widened when he saw a red, demonic eye stare at him from inside of the sand coffin._

_Then, the sand coffin exploded and sent Gaara falling back._

_Naruto landed on all fours and shook the extra sand off of his golden tails, ears and hair. He looked back up at Gaara, who was just standing up._

_"So, you are a jinchuuriki as well?" Gaara asked, and Naruto didn't reply for a full minute, his expression still angry._

_"Fox no know what Panda talk 'bout, but Panda no mess with Nata," Naruto growled. "Mess with Nata, Fox kill you before you blink," Naruto warned him and Gaara shook for a second before he stopped and stood._

_"I see." Gaara left without another word, and Hinata stared at Naruto strangely._

_'That's the first time he's ever used words to threaten someone.' She continued to watch him as he turned and went to finish his lunch. 'What's going on, Naruto-kun?'_

*.*.*

Since then, Naruto had always watched Gaara with a calculating eye. He was wary of Gaara's motives, as it seemed like he only did things that benefited him in some way. Still, even Gaara couldn't put Naruto in a bad mood, since he knew there was only a small possibility that he would be put on the same team as him and Hinata.

When all the students arrived, Iruka stepped into the room with a smile on his face and a clipboard in his hands.

"Welcome to your last day in the academy. I'd first like to take the opportunity to say that it's been a pleasure teaching each and every one of you. You're all special in your own way, and I hope you all have a successful and prosperous career as shinobi of Konoha," Iruka stated and Naruto smiled.

"Now I'll get to team assignments. Team 1…" Naruto blocked out Iruka's words as he waited for his or Hinata's name to be called. He stared at Hinata, who was most likely doing what he was. He looked into Hinata's lavender eyes with joy as he saw happiness in them. She had a small smile on her face and her short indigo hair shined from the fluorescent lights above them. He wished he could tell Hinata of his feelings, but he knew he shouldn't.

He was a demon, and she was nothing short of a princess. Even if her aroma was alluring and hypnotizing, he knew she could never be his mate. At least, not at the moment. He still remembered the conversation he had with Hiashi the night before.

*.*.*

_Naruto walked out of Hinata's room in the middle of the night, when he smelled the sweet fragrance of ramen in the air. With his eyes closed, he walked into the dining room, and when he opened his eyes, he was surprised to see Hiashi sitting in a chair, with a bowl of ramen in front of the chair across from him._

_"Sit down, Naruto." Naruto obliged as he sat on his hind legs on the chair across from Hiashi. He looked down at the ramen, and just as he was about to dive his head into the bowl, Hiashi stopped him._

_"Ah." Naruto looked up at Hiashi. "You mustn't eat it until I say you may," Hiashi told him. Naruto licked his lips._

_"So help me, Uzumaki, if you eat it without my permission," said Hiashi, "there will never, ever, ever be ramen in this house for you." Naruto issued a thin, pleading whine._

_"I mean it. You can't just come here and wolf down this ramen as if you were some wild beast." Naruto looked into Hiashi's eyes, as if trying to judge his commitment to the no-wolfing rule._

_Hiashi didn't blink._

_Convinced that this was no empty threat, Naruto lowered his attention to the forbidden fruit that was the ramen in front of him. He gazed at it with such desperate longing that Hiashi couldn't help but smirk._

_"Do you know why I did this?" Hiashi asked, and sweat-dropped when Naruto licked the rim of the bowl._

_"Torture Fox for kitchen?" Hiashi shook his head._

_"No, I just wanted to talk to you about your future." Naruto blinked as he stopped licking the bowl._

_"Fox future?" Naruto asked, and Hiashi nodded._

_"What is it you have planned for the future?" Hiashi asked, and Naruto looked at the ceiling with wonder._

_"Future… Fox future…" He smiled as he closed his eyes and bared his teeth. "To be alpha." Hiashi blinked. Naruto looked down at the ramen again. "Fox tell you one thing, though. No ancient people boss Fox around, that for sure," Naruto said in a carefree tone._

_"What about Hinata?" Naruto blinked._

_"Nata? Fox no know Nata's future," Naruto answered with confusion and Hiashi shook his head._

_"I want to know if Hinata's involved in your future." Naruto looked up at Hiashi in surprise before looking down with sadness._

_"Nata no in Fox future." Naruto said solemnly, and Hiashi observed his movements and words._

_"What do you mean?" he asked, and Hiashi could have sworn he just saw Naruto's heart break._

_"Fox no good enough for Nata," Naruto answered. "Nata princess, Fox demon; make no sense," Naruto continued._

_"So is that why you want to be alpha?" Hiashi asked, and again, Naruto looked up at Hiashi in surprise. He smirked softly and nodded._

_"Fox want to be alpha so Fox can protect family," Naruto said with conviction before blushing. "To make Nata happy… be good enough for Nata," Naruto added quietly and Hiashi nodded._

_"I see."_

_"And Fox no stop till Fox be alpha."_

*.*.*

"…Hyūga." Naruto blinked as he saw Hinata's eyes widen as she sat up straight. Naruto continued to blink as he saw Iruka pause for some reason before he shook his head and continued.

"Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto smiled. He wasn't sure what happened, but he was sure that he and Hinata were called. "And Gaara Zuraki." Naruto slammed his head onto the desk in front of him and cried exaggerated tears.

"Why Fox? Why Nata?" Naruto asked himself, and Hinata put a comforting hand on his head.

"It's going to be okay, Naruto-kun," she said before she slowly moved her hands to his ears and started playing with them. Naruto melted in her hands and purred lightly before catching himself. However, he couldn't stop the smile from appearing in his face.

"Your sensei will be Yamato." Hinata and Naruto were oblivious to their sensei's name as they continued to do their own thing. Gaara, slightly agitated by his selected teammates, just shrugged off his sensei's name, thinking nothing more of it.

"Team 8," Hinata guessed they were team 7, but once again, Naruto was oblivious to the words being spoken around him. "Will be Kiba Inuzuka, Sakura Haruno, and Shino Aburame. Your sensei will be a recently promoted Jounin, Kurenai Yūhi." Sakura moped as the realization of not being with Sasuke sunk in. Kiba scoffed at being in the same team as a fan girl, and Shino remained passive.

"Team 9 is still active, so we will continue to team 10, which will consist of Choji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka, and Shikamaru Nara, under the guidance of Asuma Sarutobi."

"WHAT?" Iruka winced at the volume of Ino's voice.

"Calm down, Ino. If you have a problem with the team setup, then talk to the Hokage," Iruka said and Sakura raised her hand. "Yes?"

"What about Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked, and Iruka smirked.

"Because of Sasuke's… unique situation, the Hokage has decided to have him be the apprentice of Konoha's very own Kakashi Hatake," Iruka said with pride, and Sasuke smirked while his fangirls cheered for him. "Now that we're done with team placements, the bell for lunch should ring soon. When you're done, return here and wait for your sensei." Everyone nodded and the bell rang a second later. Naruto jumped out of his seat and scratched the back of his ear.

"Nata bring ramen?" Naruto asked, and Hinata nodded with a giggle. "Fox hungry!" Naruto shouted as he followed after Hinata, who grabbed a bag containing the ramen. They were about to leave the room, when Hinata suddenly stopped and looked back at Gaara, who decided to eat his lunch in the classroom.

"What wrong, Nata?" Naruto asked, and Hinata pointed to Gaara. When Naruto looked back and realized who she was pointing to, he shook his head ferociously.

"Nu-uh. No way!" he shouted, and Hinata looked at Naruto seriously. "Nata know Fox no like Panda," Naruto said, and Hinata shook her head.

"It doesn't matter, Naruto-kun. He's our teammate now, and we have to be nice to him," she said as she made her way towards Gaara. Naruto didn't move, but he watched Hinata shyly greet Gaara before sitting next to him and talking to him. Naruto felt his heart weaken before his rage started to bubble up inside him.

"Stupid Panda," Naruto growled silently. "Trying to take Nata from Fox." Naruto sighed before walking over to Hinata and Gaara and sitting next to Hinata.

"Naruto-kun." Hinata smiled happily at him and Naruto blushed. He smiled as well as he came closer to her.

"Ah, Naruto, I need to talk to you," Iruka said as he appeared suddenly and dragged Naruto away. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about blue paint, would you?"

"Fox no do it! Ask Nata!" Naruto shouted as he and Iruka disappeared out of the classroom. "NATA!"

Hinata watched them leave before taking a bite of her cinnamon bun.

"Hinata Hyūga." Hinata looked at Gaara who seemed to be contemplating something. "That is your name, correct?" Gaara asked and Hinata nodded.

"Yes it is," she answered, and Gaara nodded.

"And that idiot is Naruto Uzumaki?" Hinata frowned at this.

"He's not an idiot," Hinata said sternly, defending him. "He's nice, sweet, smart, courageous, valiant…"

"I see," Gaara interrupted, and Hinata looked down at her food.

"Why don't you like him?" Hinata asked, and Gaara looked at her.

"He attacked me," he answered.

"That was two years ago," Hinata added.

"Does it matter how long ago it was? He attacked me because he saw me a as threat. A threat to what, I do not know, but he still sees me as one," Gaara said.

"So why don't you try to convince him that you're not?" Hinata asked and Gaara looked at her eyes for a while.

"You like him," he stated more than asked, making Hinata blush.

"W-what makes you say that?" Hinata asked. Gaara shook his head.

"And he's a fox demon, as well; interesting choice." Hinata's blush darkened, and Gaara munched on a sandwich. After swallowing his bite, he looked at her again. "Why choose him? He is a demon, and all demons eventually wreak havoc and chaos." Hinata blinked as she refused to meet Gaara's eyes.

"He's not like other demons." Gaara was taken aback by her response. She took in a short breath and looked at Gaara. "He'll never be like that. He's too caring and has too kind a heart to do something like that. He's my friend, and I know him like no one else," she continued, "That's why I know he won't be like that."

"Even if I believed that, I would also consider the possibility that he could slip up and lose control." Hinata looked down with a smile.

"I know, but I also know that he would fight until the end to regain control." Gaara stared at her incredulously.

"How can you put so much faith in him?" he asked, and Hinata giggled to herself.

"Because it's like you said; I like him," she said with a bright smile. She turned her gaze to him before turning her head his way and closing her eyes. "I trust him with my life because he is my friend, and now my comrade, just like you are." Gaara blinked.

"You… You trust me?" he asked, and Hinata nodded. "Why?"

"Because I have faith in Konoha and its shinobi. And isn't that what faith is about; trusting and believing in something we cannot see, just something we can feel?" Gaara continued to stare at her with awe while she smiled. He looked down and thought over her words. Hinata hoped she'd gotten through, and that he'd be friendlier to Naruto.

Meanwhile, after escaping Iruka's grasp, Naruto returned to the classroom, only to hear Hinata talk about her faith for him. Naruto smiled as he leaned his head against the door.

"Nata has faith in Fox." Naruto said as he opened the door and entered the classroom. Hinata looked up and smiled at him.

_'Nata…'_

"So, what did Iruka-sensei want, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, and Naruto sweat-dropped.

"Fox no know."

"Oh well. Eat your ramen. It's getting cold." Naruto nodded as he climbed on the table and started to devour the ramen. He looked up at Gaara, and their eyes connected. They glared at each other, one pair of eyes flashing a bright gold and another sporting a crimson red.

***.*.*.***

After lunch, everyone returned to the classroom and waited for their sensei to arrive. Naruto was glad his sensei was the second sensei to arrive. He had short brown hair and black eyes. In addition to the standard attire of a Konoha shinobi, he had a mask-style forehead protector that framed his face, instead of the average forehead protector.

Yamato led his charges to a training ground with a wide, open field. He escorted them to the left side of the field where there was a large, two-story cabin. It took at least a third of the training ground's total space, and still the field was spacious. The genin looked up in awe, wondering where the cabin had come from. It looked nothing like the other buildings and houses in Konoha. It had lots of windows, but no doors were visible, confusing the three.

"Come in." Hinata's, Naruto's, and Gaara's eyes widened when Yamato touched the front portion of the house and a rectangular opening appeared. They walked in, and because of the windows, there was no need for fluorescent lights or candles.

The first room they passed was empty, with nothing but wooden floorboards and walls.

"Sit on the floor." Yamato said, and his students obliged as they sat either in the lotus position or on their stomachs.

"As you may know, I am your sensei. My name is Yamato, but from this point forward, you will call me Yamato-sensei, understand?" Everyone nodded. "Good. I like being nice and friendly, but I have no problem ruling by fear either." Yamato looked at Naruto with ghoulish eyes, making Naruto flinch. "Got that?" Naruto nodded sharply. Yamato smiled, and his ghoulish eyes disappeared.

"I think this team has the makings of being a great genin team." He stopped and became serious. "However, I still need to test you." Hinata and Gaara blinked.

"A test?" Gaara asked.

"But we already took the graduation test." Hinata said.

"That was to see who has the capability of becoming a shinobi. My test will help me see if you're fit to be a shinobi for Konoha. It's my discretion that will decide if you become an actual genin or just an academy student." Yamato said. He stood and exited the room. "Follow me." His voice echoed from another room, and team 7 followed his voice to an open door that led to an underground room. Slowly going down the steps, Naruto, the first down the steps, was surprised to see a room with a ceiling ten times higher than he was, and about half a mile wide. Hinata and Gaara were also surprised when they stepped into the room.

There were punching bags enforced by single, thick chains, as well as weights, two treadmills, and other things as well. Across the room were three doors, and a fridge sat in the corner.

"This is the shelter/training room we'll use from time to time." Yamato said. "However, this room is for light spars and other things. If, for whatever reason, you want to go all out or think that you might cause significant damage, then take it outside." He continued before smiling.

"Speaking of which, let's all head outside." Naruto stared at the fridge for a moment longer before following after his teammates, who were already out the door. After stepping into the fresh air, Naruto stood next to Hinata and Gaara, while Yamato stood in front of them.

"We will now begin the test." Yamato announced. "I will be watching your every movement and examining your thinking abilities, leadership styles, how well you follow each other's commands, offensive techniques, defensive techniques, and much more." Yamato smiled sinisterly as he saw Hinata become nervous.

"Your objective will be to defeat me in battle." Naruto and Gaara smirked at this but Hinata wondered why. "My objective, besides what I have already told you, will be not to lose. If you don't want to fail, I'd advise you give it your all and come at me with the intention to kill."

"Now, who would like to go first?" He asked, and after some hesitation, Hinata raised her hand. "Thank you Hinata."

'_Thank you Kami! I did not want to go up against Naruto first… Or Gaara."_ Yamato thought as he and Hinata faced each other in the middle of the training ground. Naruto and Gaara watched in anticipation to see what their sensei was capable of doing.

"Whenever you're ready, Hinata." Hinata nodded shyly before taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. She fell into her clan's fighting style before opening her eyes.

"I'm ready." She said before running up to Yamato and thrusting an open palm at Yamato's stomach. She knew she wasn't going to hit him, and wasn't surprised when he back flipped away from her. However, since she didn't want to fail the test, she ran at him again, hoping to at least give him one or two scratches.

Using her top speed, Hinata ran beside Yamato and tried to kick his feet from under him. However, he once again escaped her range and put some distance between them.

Hinata's eyes widened when Yamato made some hand signs and touched the ground.

"**Earth Style: Rising Stone Spears!**" He shouted as stone spears started to pop up from the ground. More started to rise and head towards Hinata.

"Nata!" Naruto yelled in worry. Not wanting to die just yet, Hinata jumped up just as the ground under her shook and a stone spear rose from it. Using her incredible sense of balance, she landed on the tip of the spear.

Concentrating on not slipping and killing herself, Hinata jumped from the spears, and used them as leverage to push herself towards Yamato.

Yamato was impressed by her agility, balance, quick thinking, and resourcefulness. However, he knew she had to do more to pass his test.

Hinata used a spear to push herself high into the sky, and threw kunai at Yamato. He didn't even flinch when the kunai harmlessly missed him.

'_She doesn't want to hurt me."_ He observed as she landed a few feet in front of him. She ran at him and tried to send another palm to his midsection, but instead of jumping back, he pushed her hand away, and with a quick sequence of hand signs, placed an open palm just an inch away from her stomach.

"**Water Style: Water Wave Palm!**" He yelled as a continuous jet of water burst through his palm and sent Hinata back twelve feet. She righted herself before she hit the ground and moved out of the water's way, away from its reach. Yamato ended the jutsu and smirked.

_'I… I can't beat him. He's too strong.'_ Hinata thought as she dropped her stance.

"I can't win, I'm sorry." She said and Yamato blinked.

"You're giving up?" He asked and Hinata regrettably nodded her head.

"You have a variety of jutsu from long range to short range, while I only have the Gentle Fist, which is used for short range fighting. I'm outmatched." She said and Yamato smiled.

'_So this one actually thinks, huh?'_Yamato nodded his head.

"Nicely evaluated Hinata." Yamato set his eyes on Konoha's fox demon and jinchuuriki.

"Fox thought point of this was not to lose, no attack!" Naruto barked out.

"I never said I wasn't going to attack. So who's next?" Naruto growled as he took a step forward.

"I will." Naruto looked up at Gaara as he walked over to where Hinata once stood. Hinata made her way towards Naruto and sat down.

"Nata okay?" Hinata smiled as she looked at him.

"I'm fine, Naruto-kun." She looked away, ashamed of herself. "I'm sorry I couldn't do it." Hinata said. "I guess I'm not going to pass."

"Fox think Nata did great." Naruto said, making Hinata look at him with one of his tails. "If Nata no ninja, Fox no ninja." Hinata smiled while Naruto smiled with his eyes closed.

"Ready, Gaara?" Gaara nodded. "You may start." Gaara wasted no time as he raised his hand, and sand danced as it came up from the ground. Leaving his index finger straight out, he pointed a finger to Yamato. Obeying his unsaid orders, the sand rushed towards Yamato.

Yamato dodged the sand as it tried to consume him, and when it managed to wrap itself around his waist, Gaara commanded the sand to fling Yamato into the air. Surprised by the amount of distance Gaara managed to throw him, Yamato made hand signs.

"**Water Style: Ripping Torrent!**" Water spiraled around Yamato's right hand and he faced his palm to the ground. He fired the water at the ground, causing his fall to lessen at a considerable speed. Because of the spinning water hitting the ground, it caused water to splash about.

Gaara's sand absorbed the water, and Naruto shook off the water that got on him. Hinata giggled as she protected her face from being hit by the water.

Landing without a problem, Yamato ran at Gaara. Gaara took a step back, but before he could make another move, Yamato was over him and kicked his chest. Gaara took another step back as the breath was kicked out of his lungs, before he smiled and turned into sand. Yamato was not surprised by this, or the fact that sand now enveloped his foot. He landed on the ground, and before Gaara revealed himself, Yamato made hand signs again.

"**Earth Style: Hidden Mole Jutsu!**" Yamato burrowed into the ground, leaving Gaara, who hid among the trees surrounding the field, alone to see no one but Hinata and Naruto. He felt sand move underground and he ran out of his hiding spot when Yamato popped out of the ground and landed with both feet.

"**Earth Style: Great Mud River!**" The ground under Yamato and Gaara turned to mud, and Yamato made new hand signs. "**Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bomb!**" A dragon's head made of mud appeared in front of Yamato, opened its mouth, and fired concentrated mud at Gaara.

Gaara grunted as he made sand rise in front of him and harden. The concentrated mud hit the sand wall, but failed to penetrate it.

'_He has a pretty good defense.'_ Yamato mused as he ran at Gaara and jumped over the sand wall.

'_This is my chance!'_ Gaara thought as he raised his right hand up with his open palm facing the sky. Sand rose and enveloped Yamato.

"You said you wanted us to come at you with the intention to kill; big mistake!" Gaara partially closed his hand, and when the sand coffin shrunk, instead of hearing a cry of pain, he received a puff of smoke. "What?" he saw a piece of wood sticking out of the coffin, and before he could register this, he was dragged into the Earth, and only his head was visible.

"That was the Headhunter jutsu." Yamato told Gaara as he crouched down in front of him. He stood up and smiled down at Gaara.

"Nice try." Gaara scoffed as he used his sand to dig himself out. He walked back to his place on the sidelines as Naruto warily stood in front of Yamato who was slightly winded, though he refrained from showing it.

"You're their last hope, Naruto. Beat me and I might consider giving each of you a second attempt at the test." Naruto growled lowly and nodded. He took in a deep breath and instead of letting it out like Yamato expected, Naruto let out a short burst of fire. This surprised Gaara and Yamato, but Hinata knew what he was doing, and watched him and Yamato carefully.

"He's going to take this seriously." Hinata stated, and Gaara looked at her.

"What makes you say that?" Gaara asked, but it seemed that Hinata didn't hear him. Her eyes refused to leave Naruto.

"Are you ready?" Yamato asked and Naruto nodded. _'Kami, please don't let him lose control.'_ Yamato prayed before he saw Naruto make his way towards him. He jumped left and right while also decreasing the gap between them.

"You're a lot quicker than the other two." Yamato commented as he saw Naruto rear his left fist back. He swung it down, and Yamato jumped back before it hit his face. He gasped when one of Naruto's tails grabbed his neck and tossed his to the side effortlessly like a rag doll. Landing on his feet, he looked up to see Naruto running at him.

'_If he keeps this up, all he'll do is tire me out and maybe give me motion sickness._' Yamato thought as he decided to prevent the same thing from happening again. He placed his hand on the ground after making hand signs.

"**Earth Style: Rising Stone Spears!**" Once again, stone spears popped out of the ground and rushed towards Naruto. Yamato was surprised when instead of jumping over it; Naruto surrounded himself with a red-orange fire and burst through the stones as if they were made of loose sand.

"**Fox Fire: Headbutt!**" Naruto shouted as he appeared in front of Yamato and almost slammed the top of his head against Yamato's chest. Yamato, however, dodged the attack and kicked Naruto's open left flank to send him back. He noticed that touching the fire immediately set his shoe ablaze. Yamato quickly took off his shoe and watched as it was burnt to a crisp in under a minute.

"That's… interesting." Yamato said to himself. He also saw that every step Naruto took, the grass under him became as black as night.

"Fox no done! **Fox Fire: Fox Wings!**" Naruto shouted as his arms were surrounded by fire and he ran at Yamato with his hands extended. Yamato's eyes widened when Naruto was able to hit his midsection with his arm. He rolled back and quickly removed his Jounin vest before it was able to engulf him in flames. Naruto's eyes flashed a blood red before he shook his head while holding it with his right hand and growling.

"Damn it Naruto, are you trying to get me naked?" Yamato asked irritably. Now he only had his black shirt and pants with one shoe and forehead protector.

Naruto smirked as the fire surrounding him vanished only to be replaced by green fire.

"Fox no need _that_ fire." Naruto said and charged Yamato again. Yamato's eye widened when the grass under Naruto didn't burn. The grass was only pressed against the ground as Naruto ran over it. The only change Yamato could see was that his speed had increased.

"In… Incredible." Gaara breathed out, and Hinata giggled a little.

"He's starting to have fun." Hinata commented and Gaara shook his head.

Naruto started to circle Yamato, kicking up dust and leaving a trail of it in the air as he tried to confuse Yamato. Yamato, however, seemed more amused than confused. After a quick sequence of hand signs, Yamato slammed his hands on the ground.

"**Earth Style: Planet Splitter!**" The ground under Naruto split and created a large, clean cut chasm. Naruto fell into the chasm and landed on his hind legs. He looked around and saw that Yamato was planning to close it.

With his body reinforced with the green fire, Naruto ricocheted out of the chasm before it was able to squash him.

"**Earth Style: Earthen Corrider!**" A cavern appeared over Naruto and trapped him inside. Yamato proudly tapped the cavern from the outside.

"If you give up now, I'll make sure that the cavern doesn't fall over you." Yamato taunted him. His eyes widened when he heard Naruto grumble inside and the felt the temperature inside the cavern rise.

Seconds later, after Yamato walked away from the man-made cavern, Naruto burst through the cavern, surrounded by dark red fire before making it disappear.

"**Earth Style: Devouring Earth!**" Jaws made of stone appeared from the ground and tried to swallow Naruto. He wasn't having that, though, as he charged his blue fire.

"**Fox Fire: Kitsune's Roar!**" Naruto sucked in a deep breath and let out a stream of blue fire, completely obliterating the stone jaws.

Naruto landed next to the destroyed jaws and changed his blue fire to red-orange and took in another breath. He let loose another stream of fire, headed straight for Yamato.

Yamato cursed as he changed his left arm into a block of wood and grabbed the fire before tossing it back. Because of the fire, no one saw him using the wood style jutsu; he wanted to save that little piece of information for later.

Naruto jumped away and would've continued to attack Yamato but he noticed that it was heading towards Gaara and Hinata. Yamato also noticed this and cursed his stupidity. He was going to summon up wood to stop it, but was surprised when Naruto appeared in front of them.

"Nata, Panda, stand back." Hinata and Gaara were surprised by his quickness and wondered what he was going to do. Their answer came in the form of Naruto sucking in the air around him, along with the fire coming at him. He swallowed the fire as if it was water, and when he finished, he burped and sighed contently.

"I-Impossible…" Yamato said with shock laced in his face. After fully digesting the fire, Naruto ran at him and started to wildly attack Yamato, lashing out with claw swipes, kicks, tail strikes, and even the occasional headbutt. Yamato managed to evade most of it, but he still got a few scratches here and there. He felt himself start to tire out, and he mentally cursed.

Naruto jumped and tried to kick Yamato's head, but he ducked. Still, the way the wind shifted from the kick made Yamato shake on the inside. Using his tails, Naruto grabbed Yamato's arms and legs and held him up in the air. An extra tail appeared in front of Yamato's chest and became erect, as if ready to pierce him.

"Give up." Naruto said, and Yamato smirked.

"Give up? But I have the advantage now." He said as his arms and legs became wood and swirled around the tails holding it. Naruto cursed as his extra tail pierced Yamato. but instead of bleeding, Yamato turned into wood as well. Gaara and Hinata gasped.

"A-a wood clone?" Hinata stuttered.

"He's using Wood Style Jutsu?" Gaara asked no one in particular.

Naruto growled as the pieces of wood slithered down his tails and entrapped him like rope. He growled out as he changed the green flames back to the red-orange ones, but the pieces of wood would not burn away into ashes.

"What?" Naruto barked as his fire was smothered out by the pieces of wood. "Nrrgh!" Naruto struggled against his confinement, but when Yamato appeared from his hiding place, he let Naruto go and smirked.

"You're an interesting one, I'll give you that." Yamato commented. Naruto looked up at him and scoffed.

"Fox won that." Yamato shook his head before looking at his other two charges.

"Huddle up. I'm going to tell each of you your results." Hinata and Gaara walked over to Naruto. Naruto's tails wagged excitedly when he saw Hinata walk over to him. Her scent filled his nostrils and he felt like he was on cloud nine.

When his team stood in front of him, Yamato smiled.

"First thing I'd like to say is… you pass." Yamato said, and Hinata, Naruto, and even Gaara blinked.

"What?" Naruto and Hinata asked simultaneously.

"We didn't pass the test." Gaara said, and Yamato shook his head.

"That was just an incentive. I just told you that so you'd give it your all instead of just part of it." Yamato said, and Gaara sweat-dropped.

_'An incentive?'_ Hinata thought.

"An incentive? That was kind of cruel. You told us that you'd send us back to the academy if we failed your test. I was afraid that I'd fail." Hinata said and Naruto growled at Yamato.

"Did you give it your all?" He asked.

"Kind of; I already knew I wasn't going to hit you but I at least had to try." Hinata said, and Yamato nodded his head.

"Yes, you did, which is why I won't send you back to the academy. You knew you were over your head, but instead of giving up right away, you tried and then you gave up. I don't want a hero in my team, just smart shinobi." He said. "Besides that, I saw that you have a remarkable sense of balance, agility, you are resourceful, and have a smart mind. If I'm not around, I want you to be this team's leader." He said, and Hinata blushed at the compliments. She bowed deeply.

"I will try my best." She said, and Yamato turned to Gaara.

"You also have a smart mind, very strategic and resourceful as well. Your defensive techniques are incredible." Yamato praised and Gaara nodded his head. With tired eyes, Yamato looked at Naruto.

"You probably have no rational thought in that mind of yours, you have no initial strategy, and mostly likely do the things that first pop into that head of yours." Yamato then smiled. "But you are quick, incredibly strong, willing to protect your comrades, and you can think on the fly, which is something not most people can do. It's rare when things go according to plan, so it's good to have someone who can think quickly on a team." Yamato smiled at his entire team.

"I'm proud to say that I'm the leader of this genin group and that team 7 is now official." Naruto made a goofy smile, Hinata smiled happily, and though it was faint, even Gaara was smirking.

"That's it for today. Meet here tomorrow for our first team training, and afterwards, we'll see if we can take on a few missions." Naruto's tails wagged happily behind him.

"Can't you keep your extra appendages still for even a moment?" Gaara asked and Naruto glared at him.

"Shut up!" Naruto shouted, and Gaara glowered.

"Don't tell me to shut up." Gaara said lowly. Naruto stood and faced Gaara.

"Fox says shut up." Naruto said and Gaara growled. "Fox no 'fraid of Panda. Panda wanna fight, then fox knock Panda out." Naruto challenged and sand started to rise from the ground.

"Hey." Hinata tried to calm the two down.

"Hinata." Hinata looked up at Yamato. "Let's let them get it out of their systems." Hinata nodded hesitantly as she watched Naruto shove Gaara back away from Hinata and Yamato.

"Bring it, foxboy." Gaara shouted as he summoned his sand to attack Naruto. Naruto ran under, over and beside the sand as he came closer and closer to Gaara. Bring up his left fist, Naruto punched Gaara squarely in the face. Gaara was taken aback from the force behind the punch, and when he turned to deal with the fox demon he was surprised to see Naruto burn Gaara's sand with green fire before munching on it. He basically inhaled it before it enveloped him completely.

"Fox feel good now." Naruto then scoffed as he made his fire disperse. "Fox no need fire." Naruto said as he ran at Gaara again. Gaara, however, made a fist appear from the sand, and hit Naruto in the face, sending him back. Another batch of sand moved behind him and grabbed the base of his tails, and continually slammed him to the ground.

"He eats fire?" Yamato asked, and Hinata nodded. "I thought he just absorbed it, but he eats it?"

"Naruto-kun had completely absorbed the Kyūbi sealed inside him, giving him most of its abilities." Hinata informed Yamato. "He is completely unaffected by fire, he can produce his own fire, and can even consume fire. My father told me that his lungs produce the fire and use it to help him digest the fire. There isn't a type of fire in the world that can affect Naruto in the slightest." Yamato watched Naruto continue to punch Gaara some more while registering this information.

"He's an amazing person but he doesn't like to show off this ability. It makes him feel even more like an outsider than he already does." Hinata smiled. "Still, he's eager to use it if it means he can protect me." She said and Yamato looked at her.

"Wait, you said he completely absorbed the Kyūbi and its abilities. What else can he do?" Hinata shrugged her shoulders.

"Besides the ears, tails, healing ability and the sharpening of all five senses, there's no telling what else he's capable. Naruto-kun is just simply… amazing." Hinata said with a bright smile.

Naruto roared as he jumped over Gaara and landed behind him. He used his tails to grab onto Gaara's arms, and flung him into the air. Jumping after him, Naruto swiftly appeared beside him and spun, extending his right leg. It connected with Gaara's head and he flew straight towards the ground.

When he crashed, instead of feeling pain, Gaara only felt the softness of his sand.

"Fox got you!" Naruto shouted as he fell on top of Gaara and drove his feet into his stomach. Gaara coughed as the air was driven out of his lungs. Naruto picked Gaara up with his right hand until he wasn't touching the ground before letting him go.

Before his body touched the ground, Naruto spun, and all nine tails assaulted Gaara; they hit his stomach, hit his face, the top of his head, under his chin, his back, arms, legs, and every other body part in a random sequence. The speed of his attack was so quick that it looked like Naruto had twenty tails attacking Gaara.

Naruto turned again and drove his foot into Gaara's gut, sending him back. He rolled until he came to a stop and when he did, he was panting heavily.

"Naruto is alpha in pack after sensei." Naruto said with cold red eyes. He paused as he took over a contemplative look before his eyes changed to a soft blue once more. He walked over to Gaara and crouched over him. "Fox no want to fight Panda no more. Panda is part of pack and Fox no want to hurt pack." He grabbed Gaara's hand and picked him up.

"Fox want Panda to be friend." Naruto said and Gaara stared at Naruto in disbelief. "Besides, Panda kinda like Fox but no demon." Naruto said, and once again, Gaara was not expecting this from Naruto. This was the same demon that mercilessly and effortlessly attacked him with his tails and was able to get through his defenses with ease. Now… now he was offering a truce of sorts.

"Naruto's right," Yamato said as he and Hinata walked up to the battered males. "This team will be more efficient if we work together." Yamato added. Gaara looked at Yamato before standing and walking away.

"Panda need time to think." Naruto said as he watched Gaara walk away. A soft, cool breeze ran through Konoha on that hot day and Naruto closed his eyes.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Naruto-kun." Hinata said, and without even having to open his eyes, Naruto turned his head towards Hinata and smiled. Naruto's smile widened to a more pleasurable expression when he smelled Hinata's sweet aroma. It was intoxicating, and he really couldn't get enough of her scent.

He moved closer to her and rubbed his cheek against her leg, and she blushed at his affectionate action.

"Well, I'll be heading in now." Yamato said awkwardly as he walked to the two-story cabin.

"Excuse me, Yamato-sensei?" Yamato looked back at Hinata. "Y-you live here?" she asked, and Yamato thought it over.

"I guess." He answered before walking into the cabin and closing the door behind him.

"L-let's go, Naruto-kun." Hinata stuttered, and Naruto nodded, though he wondered why she stuttered. He also wondered why her scent became stronger than it did before.

***.*.*.***

Hinata sighed when she got home, plopping down on her bed as soon as she got to it. Naruto, of course, followed her as he usually did, but he seemed a tad bit hesitant about getting near her all of a sudden. In fact, after getting in the room with her, he quickly moved to the corner of the room, curling on the floor in a way that he faced away from her and his tails kept the rest of his body shielded. Hinata watched him nervously, wondering what was wrong. Finally, her curiosity ate at her so much that she decided to just ask him.

"Naruto-kun, is something bothering you?" Naruto shuddered suddenly upon hearing her voice, and he curled up more.

"Fox scared of Fox," He said. Hinata suddenly became confused.

"What do you mean? Do you mean the red Fox?" She asked. Even if he covered his head with his tails, Hinata saw his head shake, telling her that such was not the case.

"Fox isn't scared of red Fox. Red Fox dead. Fox scared of... yellow Fox," He muttered, then added, "Fox has problem, and Fox 'fraid Fox might hurt Nata." Hinata smiled softly.

"Naruto-kun, don't worry. I know you'd never hurt me," She said, then got up and walked over to him and said, "Please tell me what's wrong. I'll do my best to make it better." Naruto shook his head again.

"No. Fox no ready to tell Nata. Fox too scared," He said. He turned to face her, still laying down, and asked, "Nata promise no leave Fox when Fox ready to tell her problem? Fox scared right now, a lot." Hinata nodded. Ignoring her insecurities for a moment, she wrapped her arms around him as she moved his head to her lap and rubbed his ears.

"Don't worry, Naruto-kun. I promise I won't leave you. You're very precious to me, and I'm sure that when you're ready to tell me what your problem is, we'll find a way to make things better. After all, I have problems I'm not ready to talk about with you too," She said, blushing softly. It darkened when he looked up at her with his big blue eyes filled with hope. His smile made him seem so much cuter in Hinata's opinion.

"Fox promise Fox stay with Nata when she tell Fox her problem, too. Fox always keep promise, and Nata precious to Fox, too," He said, then nuzzled against her lap. He sighed contently as Hinata used her left hand to message one of his golden, black tipped ears while her right hand's fingers combed his golden locks.

"Can Fox stay like this for while? Fox feel cozy like this..." He trailed off as Hinata found his sweet spot right at the base of his ear. Hinata giggled and nodded. They stayed like that for hours, until then both fell asleep, each dreaming of the other happily.

* * *

**Hope ya liked the fight scenes and the team assignments…**

**Before anyone says anything, no, I'm not going****to baby Sasuke… With Gaara, the team assignment became a bit more complicated than first expected so Sasuke will be alone…**

**Well, I guess we'll see how much of a difference Gaara will make in future missions… Hopefully he'll be useful and helpful…**

**Any comments? Requests? Ideas? Let me know if ya want…**

**I love Fairy Tail! Its an awesome anime with great action… Newest favorite anime/manga….**

**Now for my opinion on the new manga updates…**

**Naruto:  
eh, its alright… Its getting slightly better than it was but not by much…**

**Bleach:  
Ichigo is beast! He's definitely gunna win this fight and his new form is AWESOME!**

**Well, I'm going to lie down and try to ride this sickness out while my tenshi heals me… My own nurse… **

***…Drools…***

**Huh? Oh, well anyway, sorry…**

**Next Chapter: Team Deity, First C-Rank Mission...**

**Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it...**


	8. First C rank Mission

**Yo!**

**I'm sorry I took so long updating this story but life is getting jealous and wants all of my attention...**

**One thing I wanna bring up before I say anything else:**

**Do not review or message me saying that I'm a sell out and that its a shame that I haven't updated in a while... Do not tell me how disappointed you are of me because of the delay in my updates... I swear I don't not update just to mess with you, my readers... I have more important matters to tend to and I'm not in the mood to deal with that...**

**Anyways, hope you enjoy the chapter...**

**Chapter 8: First C-rank Mission...**

* * *

A roar echoed through Konoha as its citizens stopped their daily activity to search for the location of the roar. A spine-tingling chill raced up and down their spine as an even louder roar followed its predecessor. Black clouds roamed over the cerulean skies while a strong breeze swept over Konoha.

A blood curdling scream sent everyone into panic as Naruto used one of his tails to rip a man's head off his shoulders and threw it at a teenager six years older than him. More panicked screams rang through the village as Naruto's rampage continued.

He jumped over a woman when she tried to run away and after landing in front of her, his right claw was engulfed by green flames and he shoved it through the woman's chest. He eyed the heart before smiling sinisterly and crushing it in his hands. The woman, who had fallen when Naruto removed his hands from her chest, was lifted by two of Naruto's tails and ripped in half and tossed to passing villagers.

Chunin and jonin surrounded Naruto and he looked around only to smile viciously. He raised his arms up in the air, engulfed by red flames, and then slammed it on the ground. The fire around his arms extended out and a tidal wave of fire towered over the chunin and jonin. The shinobi reacted too slowly for the flames swallowed them whole and reduced them to ashes. Licked by the demonic fire, nearby buildings burst to flames and spreadthe fire to their neighboring buildings.

It wasn't long before ANBU appeared to suppress the homicidal fox. However, Naruto's nose had long told him of the ANBUs' movements so he was prepared. He waited patiently for the ANBU to try to capture him and when they were over him, that's when Naruto struck. Igniting his tails with blue flames, Naruto spun around quickly with his tails extended. A small tornado of blue fires appeared and swallowed Naruto and the ANBU whole. When the tornado stopped, all that remained was Naruto and the ashes that danced with the wind.

Naruto's red eyes scanned the area as his bloodlust remained unquenched. Nothing that moved caught his eyes so he followed his nose as it lead him to the more populated area of the village. He was halted by a small figure walking out of the shadows. A girl with indigo hair had her arms and legs spread out, hoping to stop Naruto.

Naruto stared into the girl's lavender eyes with slight recognition before a bestial and primal shine appeared in his red eyes. He charged at the girl and she closed her eyes with tears falling down her eyes before Naruto was blasted back.

He righted himself before he hit the sidewalk and looked up to see a man in a fighting stance; he figured it was the girl's father. His cold silver eyes did nothing to sway Naruto's bloodlust. In fact, it helped increase his bloodlust. This man challenged him, challenged his authority to do what pleased him.

Running to his new prey, Naruto jumped and brought down a claw with enough force to crack the ground under the man when he blocked it. The man staggered back, giving Naruto enough time to headbutt the man in his chest. The man went soaring through the air and stopped by his own skill and experience. He panted as he tried to fill his lungs with air that Naruto had stolen from him with the headbutt.

Ignoring the girl, Naruto jumped over her and headed straight for the man who fell into his fighting stance and ducked under Naruto's claw swipe. Under him, the man started to poke Naruto's body relentlessly as Naruto felt his power start to fade. Not wanting to let himself be poked by the man, Naruto enveloped his body with blue flames; stopping the man and making him jump away as he scouted his wounds.

The man's fingertips were scorched and sizzled from the flames and an indescribable pain ran down his nerves. His world blacked out when Naruto grabbed the man's head with his blue flamed hands and used brute force to squeeze it like a glass ball under an elephant's foot. The man's blood splashed over Naruto's golden ears and tails, causing an enjoyable chill to pass over his body. The blue flames then engulfed the man's corpse and reduced it to ashes.

Naruto turned and faced the girl who was shaken by the brutality of the scene and more tears streamed down her cheeks. Naruto smirked, his fangs dripping with his drool as his eyes focused on the girl.

His body surrounded itself with blue-white flames, making the girl's already widened eyes to become wider. Naruto took a step forward; the girl took a step back.

"Th-Th-This isn't y-you, N-N-Naruto-k-kun... p-please... s-s-stop." The girl pleaded before losing her voice. Naruto took two steps forward; she took one step back.

Using the strength given to him by a chakra beast, Naruto slammed his right hand down on the pavement, causing it to shake and make the girl lose her balance. She fell and looked up in fear as Naruto was over her in the blink of an eye. Naruto ignited two of his tails with pure white flames and erected them over the girl's heart. She closed her eyes as Naruto reared it back and let it rush towards her.

It stopped inches away from her heart and when she looked up, she saw that Naruto was crying with his blue eyes filled with sadness.

"Not Fox... Not Fox." Was all Naruto said before the tails entered the girl and splattered her blood everywhere.

***.*.*.***

Naruto awoke with a yell and looked around. He was outside the Hyūga compound, under the tree planted next to the pond inhabited by Koi fish. Cold sweat traveled down his face as his heart raced. He panted into the cold, December night air as his breath became visible.

His blue eyes stared at the moon with fear and sadness. The dreams were becoming more frequent and more detailed than they used to be.

Three months ago, when he and his team passed Yamato's test, that's when the nightmares became worse. It used to come to him once a week at most. In the second month, they came in pairs every three days. Now, in this month, he only got one good night's sleep. However, the nightmares weren't always about him killing but sometimes, he wished they were.

He had one dream last week of a group of men surrounding him and killing him. They wore black cloaks and red clouds. That was the only identifiable thing about them. They did so many things to him that Naruto didn't even sleep that night.

Naruto splashed water to his face as he calmed his heart. His body shook from a chill but not from the cold night's air. He turned and saw Hiashi staring at him. He had just passed the door's threshold and was now standing with his arms crossed over his chest. Naruto sighed and walked over to him, stopping just inches away from Hiashi's feet.

"You're out pretty late." He stated as Naruto looked away and nodded his head. He had no clue why he would always wake up near the pond every night or why he would always find an animal's corpse in his hand but he wished he did.

"Was that you who screamed?" Hiashi asked and Naruto nodded again, still refusing to look into Hiashi's eyes. "What's wrong?" He asked and Naruto shook his head.

"Stupid dream." Naruto answered and Hiashi slowly nodded his head.

"Come back inside, you and Hinata have to go train in the morning." Naruto nodded his head and stepped into the compound. "Naruto," Naruto stopped and waited for Hiashi to speak again. "You can talk to me about anything." Naruto turned his head to look at Hiashi for a second before nodding his head and walking back to his room.

Hiashi watched him turn the corner and when he was out of sight, Hiashi sighed.

"He's sure an odd one." Hiashi walked into the compound, closed the door behind him and headed for bed.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Naruto and Gaara sparred lightly together, working through each other's defenses and attacks, as Hinata and Yamato sat on the cabin's porch and watched. They were outside, where the sun shined brightly and the only blemishes in the sky were those made by Naruto's fire. Team 7 was taking a break from a morning full of training and missions but instead of relaxing, Naruto and Gaara decided to spar.

As Gaara's sand rose from the ground to capture Naruto's left leg, Naruto jumped and landed in top of the pile of sand. Gaara made his sand let Naruto sink into it, securing Naruto in place. Once in place, sand started to circle around Naruto until it was covering his entire body from view.

Naruto clawed at the sand but it started to harden to the point that only superficial scratches were made. Naruto grunted as his vision blurred; his lack of sleep was starting to catch up to him. He barely noticed the sand coffin slowly shrinking. The feeling of claustrophobia filled Naruto as his tails were beginning to scrunch up against the sand walls. He was beginning to fade in and out of consciousness until the image of his recent nightmare entered his mind's eye.

_The splatter of blood was all he heard as he tears ran down his cheek. His hands dripping with the blood of the innocent… the blood of his caretaker and the girl from his dreams..._

Naruto's eyes snapped open and a growl echoed through his throat and out his open mouth as his eyes turned a dark crimson color and his whiskers thickened.

"Fox no do it!" He shouted in a desperate attempt to clear his conscious.

Outside the sand coffin, Yamato and Hinata watched warily as the coffin started to vibarate violently. Bursting from the sand that was set ablaze, Naruto ran up to Gaara and thrust a tense claw forward. Gaara's sand reacted as it sprung up and caught Naruto's left claw before it was able to touch Gaara. With another growl and swiping his tail over the sand, Naruto freed his captured claw and jumped back before charging again.

"Calm down." Gaara said non-chillingly as he noticed Naruto's erratic breathing and twitchy movements. His eyes seemed wild and blank, blood lust and insane. Gaara's eyes narrowed as he saw that Naruto's demon side was reigning control. With a growl, Naruto's left claw summoned a fireball and Naruto threw it at Gaara.

Gaara's eyes widened as he jumped and rolled out of the fireball's way and stood up the fireball swirled in the air before rising up twenty-five feet in the air before reaching its peak. Yamato and Hinata noticed the fireball about to land thirty feet to the left of them and Hinata tapped Yamato's left arm. He looked down and saw Hinata still looking at the fireball.

"Can you set up a wall o-or something?" She then pointed to the fireball. "Facing that way?" Yamato raised an eyebrow before obliging and setting up a wall of wood. A second after he set up the wall, the fireball hit the grounded and exploded. The explosion rocked the ground and fire flooded the training ground. Yamato's eyes were wide while Hinata look relieved.

Sand rose behind Gaara as the fire traveled to the side and over it. Gaara continued to stare at Naruto as he stood in the middle of the fire as if it was nothing. Gaara took in his surroundings and saw the fire Naruto let loose was beginning to burn the trees and grass to ashes. He saw Yamato make some hand signs but before he could do anything. Naruto stood up and sucked in all the fire surrounding them. Drawn to him like moths to light, the fire jumped off the living things and into Naruto's mouth. Naruto let out his breath through his nose and fire accompanied the air.

With the fire now gone, Gaara was able to concentrate more on his loose-cannon comrade as he took in a deep breath with his arms and hands positioned in front of his chest, parallel to the ground. Letting the breath go, Gaara seemed to push an invisible force down with his hands until they stopped around his waist. With this motion, sand began to spin around Naruto, keeping him in his place. it rose off the ground and was spinning in speeds untraceable by a normal human eye.

In a single motion, Gaara's left hand extended out and his palm faced Naruto while his right hand moved in front of his mouth with his index and middle fingers upright. He closed his left hand and the sand surrounding Naruto rose and condensed into a cage around him. Naruto looked around with angry eyes before roaring loudly.

Turning his eyes to the coming teammate and sensei, Gaara shook his head, halting them.

"I can handle this." Hinata and Yamato blinked as Gaara spread out his legs, clapped his hands together and took in a deeper breath. Summoning his chakra, Gaara sent a message to his sand. The sand surrounding Naruto tightened until no hole was seen. All that was seen was a cocoon made of sand floating two feet above the ground. Gaara then moved his arms out straight, his palm in Naruto's direction and his fingers curled.

The other members of team 7 could hear struggling, roaring and scratching from the inside as Gaara began to struggle to keep the cocoon up. It wasn't long before Naruto burst through the cocoon, making Gaara drop to his knees, breathing hard. Yamato was about to do something when he noticed Gaara's hands were still out and his fingers still curled. He looked up and saw Naruto squirming around the floor, like something invisible was attacking his neck. And then he saw it, a band of sand around his neck.

"Calm... down..." Gaara repeated as he tried to catch his second wind and walked toward Naruto. "This isn't you." Gaara said calmly as Naruto was denied of oxygen. His movements became less and less wild and were slowly coming to a stop.

Finally, Naruto's eyes changed to their normal blue eyes and his lids were half way down. Seeing this, Gaara released the sand around Naruto's neck and he kneeled down beside him.

"Get control over yourself." Gaara started as Naruto started to greedily breathe in the air around him. "Next time, I won't stop here." Gaara warned as he stood up when he heard Hinata running toward them. She dropped to her knees and cradled Naruto's head.

"Are you ok?" She asked and Gaara walked off.

"'Thanks for calming him down Gaara.' 'No, its ok, I've been itching to do that since I first met him.'" Gaara played out as he walked into team 7's cabin and went for a snack, a cookie maybe. Yamato watched Gaara's monologue in odd interest before turning his attention to Naruto and Hinata.

Hinata was brushing her fingers through Naruto's hair as she watched his breathing slowly return to normal. She hummed a tune that calmed Naruto's nerves and he could feel sleep try to take him. He sat up as quickly as he could and looked down at his hands and feet. He didn't want sleep to find him and he was determined to stay awake.

"Naruto-kun?" Naruto looked back, his eyes connecting to his master and best friend. Her lavender eyes, filled with compassion and worry scared Naruto because they were the same eyes as the girl in his nightmares. He shrugged it off and smiled at her with a forced laugh.

"Fox ok; just tired." Naruto said and looked at Yamato. "Team 7 still do more missions?" Naruto asked, trying to hide his fatigue. Yamato stared at Naruto warily, calculating his current capacity.

"I'm not sure..." Naruto shook his head viciously, to the point that it looked like he could shake his head off his shoulders.

"Fox is fine, just a little tired. Fox promise it not happen again." Naruto promised and Yamato shook his head.

"If it happens again-" Naruto smiled

"Not happen again." He emphasized. Yamato nodded his head and went to go find Gaara.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Naruto followed behind Hinata and Gaara as they headed for the academy where the Hokage and Iruka were assigning missions. Yamato walked behind them, watching Naruto intently. He noticed Naruto had been acting strange lately. He never has as much patience as he used to and his responses have been one to two worded sometimes. Even Hinata had trouble getting through to him.

Yamato wondered if it was a demon thing but decided to do nothing about it until he had no choice. He really needed to contact Jiraiya so he could help solve the problem Naruto seemed to be having.

Stepping into the hallway and through a door, Team 7 appeared before the Hokage and Iruka.

"Ah, if it isn't team 7, welcome." The Hokage greeted. Hinata, Yamato and Gaara bowed, Naruto did nothing as he waited for the introductions to be over with. The Hokage wondered why Naruto didn't greet him but pushed it to the side, categorizing it as unimportant at the moment.

"Here for a mission? Well, you're choices are babysitting, cutting grass for a couple of clients, walking the Inuzuku's pups,-" Before Iruka could continue, Naruto let out a growl.

"Fox tired of lame missions. Fox want big mission, action mission." Naruto growled out and the Hokage and Iruka blinked. His team was shocked by the sudden outburst from their moody teammate.

"Naruto!" Yamato scolded but Naruto only glared at his jonin sensei.

"Fox want action." Naruto repeated and Hinata put a hand on his shoulder. He flinched and turned his head to face her with a frown on his face and his brow scrunched. She saw that his eyes were fading from blue to red. Naruto's eyes widened slightly when he saw sadness in her. His eyes flickered back to blue and he looked down, ashamed. His teammates stared at him with confusion before the Hokage caught their attention with a cough into his balled up hand.

"So it's action you want, Naruto?" The Hokage asked and Naruto nodded his head. The old man smiled and took out a mission scroll from under the desk. Iruka looked at the Hokage as if he had lost his head.

"You're not actually going to give them a C-rank mission, are you sir?" Iruka asked and the Third Hokage just smiled.

"Calm down, Iruka. It's only a body-guard mission." The Hokage insisted and Iruka nodded his head hesitantly before the two turned to team 7. "It's a simple mission of escorting a Takigakure shinobi back to his home." The Hokage informed and Naruto's eyes gleamed with mischief. "He'll be waiting at the gates while you prepare yourselves. Pack accordingly."

"Fox finally get action mission?" Naruto asked and the Third Hokage nodded his head. Naruto smirked and crossed his arms over his chest as he sat on his butt. "Finally." Gaara rolled his eyes and Yamato shook his head. Hinata stared at Naruto worriedly.

'_Why are you acting this way?'_ She wondered as Yamato grabbed the mission scroll and team 7 left to go do their mission. The Third Hokage watched him leave and wondered the same thing.

***.*.***

At the gate, Naruto and Hinata waited for their teammates while Naruto's head rested on Hinata's lap as she played with his ears and sat on the bench. His tails swayed behind him and his ears twitched under Hinata's hands. Hinata wanted to ask him if anything was wrong but she didn't want Naruto to feel pressured; she wanted him to come to her. She sighed softly as she wished she could read his mind.

Naruto opened one eye to look up at her before closing it and yawning. He got off her lap and stretched as he let out another yawn, this one longer than before. He ignored Shibuki, who stood to the side and flinched when he saw Naruto move from the corner of his eye. Naruto disliked the guy; the main reason was because the guy was, in every sense of the word, a coward. Naruto would be ok with it if it was a sensible fear but this guy jumped at everything that made a sound or moved, god forbid it do both at the same time while in his presence.

"Panda here." Naruto said before Hinata saw Gaara walking towards them. "Sensei coming too." Naruto added and a few seconds later, Yamato appeared from nowhere and stood behind Naruto.

"I see everyone's here." Yamato said after Gaara arrived, standing next to Naruto. They looked at each other before looking in the opposite direction. "Let's go, we're burning daylight." Yamato said as he started to walk out of the village with Shibuki following close behind. Naruto smirked as he followed after Yamato with Hinata next to him and Gaara behind him. They walked down the trail without a sound, having nothing to say. Naruto was too excited by the mission, Hinata was too engrossed in her thoughts, and Gaara, Shibuki and Yamato weren't naturally social.

On the way to Takigakure, Naruto remained by Hinata's side, making sure he was never too far away form her. He feared he'd fall asleep again or worse and if that happened, he had no doubt in his mind that Hinata would stop him before he got too far.

***.*.***

"We're almost there." Yamato told his team, causing each of them to show some kind of relief, all except for Naruto. He had been kind of hoping for some bandit to try and attack Shibuki. Still, he found it refreshing to be out in the wild; out where he felt more at home.

"Finally, I can't wait to be home." Shibuki commented and Yamato looked at him.

"I heard from the Hokage that you are the son of Takigakure's leaders." Yamato said and Shibuki nodded.

"I am but since father passed, that leaves me with the task of running Takigakure." Shibuki informed and Yamato looked away.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Shibuki shrugged it off.

"It was bound to happen." He stated darkly. The conversation died after that and it wasn't long before they reached a waterfall. There, near the edge were two children. They looked up and smiled when they saw Shibuki.

"You're back!" They cheered and ran to hug the village leader's son. Naruto saw that one was a boy with short brown hair and green eyes while the other was a girl with long black hair, black eyes and a red ribbon tied to her hair. The boy looked up at Shibuki and smiled widely.

"Wanna help us clean up the water?" The boy asked and Shibuki hesitated before turning to team 7.

"Do you guys want a seperate, new mission?" Gaara, Naruto and Hinata sweat dropped while Yamato actually considered it.

"Sure, just send the extra pay later." Shibuki nodded and turned to the children from Takigakure.

"These nice people from Konoha are going to help you clean this place. In fact, why don't you two supervise their work?" Shibuki suggested and their eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.

"That'd be awesome!" They cheered simultaneously.

"What a rip off." Naruto said before looking at Yamato, giving him a look that asked if this was for real. Yamato nodded his head.

"Well, this place isn't going to clean itself up." Shibuki joked, making the children laugh. Above them, a hawk soared and let out a message to all that were in its range. Yamato looked up and his eyes narrowed.

"It seems I'm needed somewhere else. However, I don't think it would be wise to leave you three unattended." Yamato said hesitantly. Shibuki waved his head submissively,

"It's ok, Yamato-san, I'll have someone escort them back. For now, I'll keep watch over them." Yamato looked at Shibuki before shaking his head.

"I think it'd be better if I stay here." He then looked at Naruto but Naruto ignored his look.

"Let start already." Naruto said solemnly as he, Hinata and Gaara began to clean up the waterfall. It didn't take long for them to finish and when they did, Naruto smiled.

"Fox hungry! Want nom-nom on ramen!" Naruto shouted and Hinata and Yamato smirked.

"No offense but I have no intentions of revealing Takigakure's entrance to outsiders. Please leave." Team 7 stared at Shibuki after his statement. Shibuki just stared back, with a look that showed what he said was with serious intent. Yamato held his hands up in defense after a moment of silence.

"That's fine with us. We'll be on our way now." He said. "Come on guys, both of our missions are complete." Naruto groaned as he jumped out of the water and shook off all the excess water from his fur and hair. Hinata kicked off the excess water from her feet and Gaara just walked, having used his sand to pick up the trash instead of getting wet. He would rather have wet sand than wet sand armor. Team 7 began to head for home but before they could go far, a woman came out, panting hard.

"Mommy!" The little girl shouted in worry and the woman fell to her hands and knees. The child ran to his mother and was accompanied by Hinata and Yamato. Gaara and Naruto slowly came up to the woman at their own pace.

"Are you ok, miss?" Yamato asked and the woman opened her eyes and the first person she saw was Shibuki.

"Shibuki-sama! The village is under attack." The woman said with urgency. Shibuki, the children and team 7 were shocked to hear this and the woman lost consciousness before any questions could be asked. The woman's child called to her multiple times before she started to cry.

"She's ok, young one." Hinata reassured the little girl.

"What we do, sensei?" Naruto asked and Yamato looked at Shibuki who was shaking.

"…" Yamato watched as Shibuki stood and looked around in distress. "We should leave." Yamato decided and Gaara and Naruto gazed at him with disappointed surprise.

"What?" Shibuki asked angrily.

"Our mission was to escort you back to Takigakure and then we were given the extra task of cleaning up the waterfall; a C and D-rank mission. This new mission would qualify as an A-rank mission; something my team is not ready for." Yamato explained and Shibuki glared at him.

"So you expect me to go in alone?" Shibuki asked in anger.

"A second ago, you were forcing us to leave." Gaara retorted and Shibuki shifted his glare.

"A second ago my village wasn't under attack!"

"As far as you knew." Gaara added and Shibuki clenched his teeth. Naruto moved in between Gaara and Shibuki and met Shibuki's glare with a solemn look.

"You alpha; alpha fight to defend territory, help or no help. Fight alpha!" Naruto said seriously and the emotion contained in his cerulean eyes shook Shibuki to his core.

Suddenly, Naruto shifted his attention to the waterfall and narrowed his eyes. His ears pricked up and his tail began to sway in a slow beat. Everyone conscious shifted their attention to the waterfall, wondering what Naruto was looking at.

Unexpectedly, about fifty kunai and shuriken burst out of the waterfall and headed for team 7, Shibuki and the children and their mother. Naruto immediately ran towards the shuriken and kunai and let out a primal roar and disrupted the flying weapons. A few were able to get passed Naruto but Gaara and Yamato summoned sand and wood respectively to defend against the oncoming assault.

"They here." Naruto said before ten silhouettes jumped out of the waterfall and proved to be ten men. Nine of them wore the same clothing; grey shirt and pants with a mask covering their faces and a blank forehead protector. The tenth man seemed to be the leader as he smirked viciously at team 7 and Shibuki.

"I'll take a guess and say you're the invaders attacking Takigakure." Yamato said and the leader smirked.

"How do you know I'm not part of Takigakure's patrol squad?" The leader asked and Yamato glared.

"Call it a hunch." He replied and Shibuki pointed an accusing finger at them.

"You can't fool me. You're not a Taki shinobi." The man snickered before laughing out loud.

"Ah shoot and I tried to hard to pull it off." The leader shrugged his shoulders and then pointed back at Shibuki. "Retrieve the pest." Shibuki flinched and shook in fear as he watched the ten men run towards him. Naruto appeared in the men's way, his body language telling everyone he wasn't moving without a fight. He had his legs spread out and his claw-like hands were positioned to strike.

"Don't get involved Naruto!" Yamato ordered but Naruto didn't move. "Naruto!" Yamato shouted with authority. Naruto looked back for a second before looking back at the men but that was all that was needed for the men to throw shuriken at Naruto. Two hit his left shoulder, another hit his right leg and two more struck his stomach. His body bent back before he leaned forward, his head bent forward and his arms limp at his side.

"Naruto!" Yamato and Hinata shouted in worry but Gaara only remained silent. Two men past Naruto without batting an eye but before they could get far, two golden tails stretched out and wrapped around the two men's neck. The tails lifted the men off their feet, up into the air and harshly shoved the men into the ground. Their heads and neck were buried deep into the ground. Naruto raised his head and his red eyes stared into the eyes of the remaining men, shocking them into paralysis.

Yamato connected eyes with Gaara, pointed at the men with his head and nodded his head. Gaara nodded his head in reply and they made hand signs. Before the men were able to snap out of their paralysis, sand and wood rose from the ground and skewered the men. Only the leader was able to jump away before being impaled and run back into the waterfall.

"Come back, prey!" Naruto shouted and ran towards the leader. He dodged the sand and wood that tried to capture him and was able to make it to the edge of the waterfall before sand wrapped around his left leg. Naruto growled and swiped the sand with his tail, freeing his leg. He made one hand sign and twenty Narutos appeared. Yamato and Gaara watched in surprise as the Narutos ran in different directions.

"He'll probably head for the waterfall." Yamato told Gaara as they both used their respective elements to try to catch the Narutos. They struggled as they caught each Naruto one by one and after no other Naruto was seen, the mischeivous group was brought in front of Yamato. He counted them and seemingly unsatisfied with the result, he counted thme again.

"There are only nineteen; where's the twentieth one?" Fate, as unpredictable as it was, answered the wood-user in the form of a blur running on top of the water and through the waterfall. "Dammit, Naruto!" Yamato cursed.

"He's getting us involved." Gaara said and Yamato nodded his head.

"Naruto-kun was never one to overlook a wrong deed if he could do something about it. It's just like the time Neji-nii-san sparred with an older member of the Main branch." Hinata said and Yamato, Gaara and Shibuki looked at her. The children had moved the mother out from under the sun and into the protecting shade of the trees.

"What happened?" Yamato

"My father told me it was a test suggested by some elders to see how well trained some of the Side Branch members were and if they were capable of protecting the Main Branch. Then... then things became more complicated."

_Neji and Hyoko Hyuga seemed to be equally matched as they both parried and dodged the other's attacks and so forth. Hyoko, a Main Branch member, was about three years older than the ten year old Neji. Naruto, along with Hinata, her father and the other Hyuga elders watched from the sidelines, observing their movements._

_The elder who personally 'trained' Hinata stepped forward and stopped the fight. Taking steps away from each other, Hyoko and Neji waited for the elder to give further instructions._

_"That was decent for the warm up," Hinata's eyes widened._

_'That was a warm up?' She thought._

_"However, now we will begin with the actual spar." He looked at Hyoko with a look in his eye and Hyoko nodded obediently. He stepped back to the sidelines and motioned them to begin._

_Hinata blinked as she saw Neji head for Hyoko. They both began the dance known to everyone in the room as the Gentle Fist._

_"Prepare yourself, i won't be holding back." Hyoko informed Neji but Neji remained unresponsive. Hyoko wasted no time taunting him as he went straight for his chakra points. In a Hyuga spar, it was forbidden to attack chakra points with chakra._

_"__**Eight Trigrams: Thirty-two Palms!**__" Hyoko shouted as he tried to make contact with Neji. Even with the limitation, every blow Hyoko was able to land on Neji still hurt. Naturally quicker than Neji, Hyoko was able to land the last hit on Neji's chest, sending him back._

_On the sidelines, Naruto flexed his arms and claws as he watched his prey get pummeled by the annoying Hyuga. _

_Normally, Neji was Naruto's prey, his adversary for his unacceptable behavior towards his master and friend. His instincts always told him to fend off the Hyuga whenever he was too close to Hinata but he was untouchable, but Naruto waited patiently for the moment he made a wrong move, to slip up. And when he did, Naruto would be over him like a snake on a mouse. In this circumstance though, Nej was not his main concern. The older Hyuga was his enemy at the moment._

_Naruto had seen the teen eye his master lecherously on multiple occasions. On one occasion, he had even gone so far as to drive Hinata into a corner, trying to convince her to do something. Naruto honestly had no clue what he was trying to do or what he was saying but the way Hinata stood and the aura of fear coming from her, Naruto knew he had to step in. He had managed to drive away the pest but he never knew when to quit._

_"Thrity-two palms!" Hyoko finished as he sent a palm to Neji's chest. He was blasted back by the momentum and fell on his side. After catching his second wind, he stood and panted. Not as deadly as it was originally intended to be, the Hyuga Clan's technique still hurt and Neji would testify to that if he ever let his pride go._

_His agression still pumping adrenaline through his veins, Hyoko ran towards him and swiped the feet from under him. Neji fell and turned on his side when Hyoko brought down an open palm intended to hit his shoulder. He hit the ground and recoiled back from the pain traveling up his right arm._

_Jumping to his feet, Neji thrust a palm forward and met its destination as Hyoko took a step back from the hit to the face. Neji lowered his body as he hit Hyoko's stomach with his left palm. Another step back and Neji turned and shot out his right leg up and hoped to end the spar on account of technical knock out. However, it was not to be as Hyoko recovered and grabbed Neji's foot before it connected with his chin. With a twist of his hand, he heard Neji's leg pop and he grunted in an effort to muffle his desire to cry out in pain. _

_He fell but Hyoko refused to let go of his leg. He twisted his leg more and with his teeth gritted tightly, Neji finally let out a shout and squirmed in a vain attempt to free his leg._

_Hyoko continued to apply pressure on Neji's leg as he continued to cry out from the pain. _

_"That's enough." Hiashi said calmly, trying to stop the fight with his words but on the inside, he wanted to stop the fight personally. Hyoko didn't seemed to listen as he continued to torment the Hyuga. The teen seemed to be in his own little world as he continued his assualt. The look in his eyes made Naruto angry._

_"Hyoko!" Hiashi said, his voice louder than it was before. With Hiashi seemingly disapproving Hyoko's actions, Naruto used this to justify the following events that occured the moments following Hiashi's yell._

_With speed given to him by the chakra beast that used to live inside him, Naruto appeared over Hyoko before anyone was aware of it. Blinking in surprise, Hinata looked to her side and saw that Naruto had indeed moved over Hyoko and she had not been seeing things._

_Spinning, Naruto extended his right leg and kicked Hyoko in the face._

_"What's he doing?" An elder shouted, demanding for an answer._

_One of Naruto's tails wrapped itself around Hyoko's waist, stopping him from getting to far. Landing on his feet, Naruto swung his right fist up and it connected with Hyoko's face, sending him back. Set free from Naruto's tail, Hyoko flew back until his back hit the wall, cracking it from the pressure. He slid down the wall and became unresponsive._

_After making sure that Hyoko would not be getting up soon, Naruto scanned Neji to see that he was favoring his right leg. His instinct telling him to jump away, Naruto did so obediently as a man older than Hyoko almost hit Naruto with a chakra-powered palm to the back. Naruto growled at the man, trying to warn him off._

_"Tomaki, calm yourself!" Hiashi ordered and Tomaki glared at Naruto._

_"Don't you dare touch my grandson again!" The older man shouted but it didn't seem to affect Naruto in the least. _

_Rushing past his grandfather, Hyoko attempted to redeem his fallen pride by ending the life of the village's pariah. With his tails lazily swaying behind him, Naruto swiftly swiped his right claw just as Hyoko hovered over him._

_Hyoko's eyes glassed over as blood escaped his new wound. He fell back and his body collapsed in front of Naruto who stared at him stoically._

_"Hyoko!" Tomaki shouted in anger and ran to avenged his seemingly dead son. He was stopped however by Hiashi how knocked him unconscious with a palm to he stomach._

_"Take Hyoko and Neji to the medical wing." Hiashi told the medical-nin standing to the side. Knowing Hyoko, he had guessed he'd try to pull something like he did on Neji but he didn't think the medical attention would be focused on Hyoko. Motioning a Branch member to enter, he handed Tomaki to the Branch member._

_"Take him to his room and should he wake, inform him of his son's location." The Branch member nodded and left to follow Hiashi's instructions. "This spar is over, the evaluation will be made at a later time." Though reluctant, the elders left the room with only Hiashi, Hinata and Naruto standing in the room._

_"Though the execution was questionable, I'm grateful you stepped in when you did." Hiashi said but Naruto had his eyes closed. He looked up at Hiashi and smiled mirthlessly. He walked away and left the spar room. Hinata looked up at her father before bowing and folowing after Naruto._

"I was surprised since he and Neji never seemed to be on the same page." Hinata said and Yamato looked at the waterfall. No one said a word as thoughts rushed past Yamato's mind. Finally, Hinata asked, "So what now, sensei?"

"It's obvious, we have to save Takigakure." Gaara said and Yamato sighed and remorsefully nodded his head.

"It seems so. Naruto has gotten us too involved now." Yamato added.

"Do you think he'll fall into a trap?" Gaara asked. "He usually isn't very aware of his surroundings."

"Let's hope that's not the case this time." Shibuki looked at the remaining members of team 7 before shaking his head. "The task ahead of us will be perilous and no doubt we could lose someone if we're not careful." Gaara nodded his head in agreement.

"Hope? Hope is a useless emotion." Shibuki stated. Hinata stared at Shibuki but refrained from saying anything.

'_Come back alive, Naruto-kun…please…'_ Hinata thought as she prepared herself to get into her first actual fight. It was like Yamato said, if they weren't careful, they could lose someone and this thought scared Hinata to no end.

* * *

**How was it? Good enough?**

**Sorry, i have nothing to say right now... If you have any comments, don't be afraid to review...**

**Till next time...**

******Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it...**  



	9. Fighting Until the End

**Yo!**

**Man, it's been way too long... Last time I checked, I think its been a year?**

**Wow, I'm slacking -.-...**

**So, because it's been a year or so since I last updated this story, I basically forgot where I was going with this chapter -.-"... yea, I know, I'm just that awesome... Anyway, that means I have to redo the whole plot of this story and, while it might not mean much to you since you had no idea what I had planned before, I just hope this new plot will be better than the one I had before...**

**Also, I think you'll see some difference in the story in terms of writing-style (maybe) since less than half of this was written last year and the other half was written this year, a few days ago in fact...**

**Guess you'll just find out when you read this chapter.. I hope you enjoy it and thanks for the few who haven't abandoned this fic...**

"**_A story to me means a plot where there is some surprise. Because that is how life is - full of surprises."_  
~Isaac Bashevis Singer**

**Chapter 9: Fighting to the End...**

**I don't own Naruto...**

Hinata and Yamato swam after Shibuki as he lead them through the underwater passage to Takigakure. Gaara had stayed behind to take care of the mother and her children after realizing that he would have to go underwater to get to Takigakure. He preferred to stay dry.

As they surfaced, Yamato and Shibuki looked around as Hinata used her Byakugan to scan the area. She saw many Taki villagers tied up and hidden behind trees and the houses that surrounded the water. Her scan was interrupted by her amazement in the gigantic tree in the middle of the village. She had never seen such a natural phenomenon before, not to this degree.

"Come on, Hinata." Hinata was snapped out of her musing by Yamato who was swimming towards land, along with Shibuki. She followed after and shook the excess water from her hair. None of the two noticed that Shibuki hesitated before submerging and swimming away.

"It's quiet." Yamato said as he looked around the barren village. He looked at Hinata who reactivated her Byakugan. She looked around and focused on the on-coming shinobi falling from the sky.

"Yamato-sensei." Hinata whispered and Yamato nodded his head as he made some hand signs.

"Go after Shibuki." He said as he slammed his hands together and made columns of wood rise, slamming into the three nameless shinobi. Hinata nodded and jumped into the water, using her Byakugan to track Shibuki down who just swam under the giant tree. Manipulating the columns of wood, Yamato redirected their destination and made the columns of wood slam the shinobi into the ground. As far as Yamato was concerned, they were not going to be a hindrance to anyone after this day.

He jumped into the air just as rope formed of water shot out and tried to trap him. He landed safely as the two holding the water whip appeared. The male was a tough-looking shinobi, wearing a black, sleeveless shirt, gray pants, ninja sandals, and arm warmers. He had about chin length gray hair which was spiked at the top. He also had a teal line marking that went over his nose. The other was a young, quite tall, and slim kunoichi. She had light brown hair, and a white hairband over her head, holding the hair out of the way from her eyes. She wore a pink tube top with a open, light green shirt, navy blue pants and ninja sandals.

"You're pretty quick for a Konoha-nin," The male, Murasame, taunted with a smirk before frowning. "but I won't be defeated as easily as those weak punks." He added and Yamato eyed Murasame.

"Don't forget about me." The female, Hisame, said and Yamato's eyes shifted to her, only to return to Murasame. Making hand signs, Murasame spat a burst of water at Yamato. Yamato jumped back and slammed his hands on the ground after making some hand signs.

"**Wood Style: Domed Wall Jutsu!**" A dome of wood sprouted from the ground and covered Yamato from the burst of highly concentrated water and he started making more hand signs. "**Wood Style: Four Pillars Prison Jutsu!**" He sent and changed his chakra into timber underground and raised it to trap Murasame. He was too quick but Hisame was trapped and Yamato pushed his right palm forward, making the timber prison to move back until it collided against a house and made the prison and house collapse on itself.

"You're pretty quick." Murasame said as he ran at Yamato.

"You're not so bad yourself." Yamato replied as he made more hand signs. "But unfortunately, I don't have much time to waste. **Wood Style: Branching Forest!**" He shouted as he extended his right arm up and changed into a tree without leaves. The branches shot off and headed for Murasame who was swift enough to avoid getting captured by them. Out of a whim, Yamato spiked the ends of the branches and they resumed their task of capturing or skewering Murasame. Said target jumped into the air but the branches followed relentlessly.

Murasame spun his body to the left and narrowly evaded the branch's reach. The branch left a shallow cut on the left side of his back and he grabbed onto it to push himself away and evade more branches. He landed a few feet away with a smirking, thinking he had one upped the wood-user. He was surprised to see Yamato with a smirk on his face. It was then he noticed the one branch buried underground. His eyes widened.

His suspicions were proven correct as a branch sprouted from the ground under him and wrapped around his body. He grunted and struggled against his confinement as Yamato removed the connected branches from his arm and moved towards Murasame.

"You're pretty clever." Murasame said calmly, making Yamato raise his guard. He pulled out a kunai and spun it in his finger before positioning it to cut the captured man's throat.

"What's going on?" Yamato asked and the man chuckled.

"What do you mean?" He asked innocently.

"Why'd you invaded Takigakure?" The man chuckled and Yamato glared at him. "What's so funny?" Yamato asked and his eyes shifted to the left before he back flipped away from the man just as a water whip tried to wrap itself around him. He applied chakra to his feet to keep himself above the water he landed on.

"I should've figured it'd take more than that to finish you." Yamato said and Hisame smirked as she retracted the whip and kept it at her side.

"**Water Style: Water Prison Jutsu!**" Yamato's eyes widened when a prison of water surrounded him and trapped him. He turned to see Hisame, smiling at him.

"We got you." She said and Yamato cursed. She turned to Murasame with a smirk. "Should we kill him?" She asked.

"Wait." The two stopped and turned to see their leader, Suien. He had long spiky hair, dark eyes and a goatee. He wore a dark blue jacket, gray pants, sandals and a bandana that held his hair out of his face. "We could use him to negotiate."

_'This guy...'_ Yamato's thoughts began to become distort as he felt his body beg for oxygen.

"You got off lucky." The woman said as Yamato started to lose consciousness.

[*.*.*.*]

_'This should be protected.'_ Shibuki thought as he held the Hero's Water in his hands. His eyes narrowed slightly as he stared at the thing responsible for his father's early demise. Still, he knew he couldn't just hand the bad guys the water, it would be too dangerous. He tightened his hold as he held back his tears. He composed himself long enough to climb up the secret passage way to the upper level of the tree and watched as Yamato was tied to the wood that stood in in front of the giant tree.

"I know you brats are out there. You too Shibuki!" The leader, Suien, shouted.

_'That traitor!'_ Shibuki thought as his hold on the Hero's Water tightened.

"If I don't have the Hero's Water here within five minutes, I'll kill every man, woman and child I find. And if you're still too scared to hand over the Hero's Water, Shibuki, you'll be next!"

"There's... no way I can give him this," Shibuki cried as his body shook with frustration and fear.

"Are you just going to let him do that to your people?" Shibuki heard the soft voice of Hinata ask. He jumped a bit but when he saw her, he visibly relaxed.

"But what can I do? I can't just hand him the Hero's Water. If I give him the Hero's Water, there'd be no point in fighting him," he said and then closed his eyes and tightened his knuckles. "I wasn't meant to lead; that was always my father's job. Why'd he have to drink the stupid water!"

"Because he knew it was the right thing to do," Hinata said, placing a hand on his left shoulder. "I'm going to go look for Naruto-kun or Gaara-kun so they can help me free Yamato-sensei and stop these bad people. You're welcomed to join me," she said before walking away.

"H-Hey, what's going on?" Shibuki stuttered and Hinata paused to turn around. Her eyes widened when she saw Gaara being brought down a net with other people inside. His eyes were closed and his body was relaxed. Hinata turned with anxiety etched in her face.

"Wait!" he called out to her. She paused but didn't face him. "Why are you doing this for a village you don't belong to? What gives you the courage to be fearless?"

Hinata blinked before she let out a small laugh. "Being courageous isn't the same as being fearless. That's stupidity. Being courageous is standing up to your fears; not because you want to, but because you have to. My mother taught me that," Hinata told him, saying the last part softly as a nostalgic feeling overcame her before she left.

Shibuki turned his attention back to Suien. He shut his eyes as he tried to find courage, but all he felt was fear.

[*.*.*.*]

Naruto growled as he ran into a dead-end. It didn't make sense to him; he went through the waterfall just like his prey but instead of finding him, he ran into a dead-end. He punched the wall in frustration. It cracked under the force and it somewhat relieved Naruto of his anger. He set another punch forward and this time, the wall cracked and began to breakdown. In fact, the force of Naruto's two punches shook the entire cave from the blow and the wall Naruto just punched crumbled away.

He blinked and stared at the new hole in the wall. There seemed to be another room in there. Or maybe another path?

A devious smile graced Naruto's lips as he jumped through the hole and started dashing down the path. He was going to find the bastard who got away. None of his preys ever got away from him for too long.

[*.*.*.*]

Hinata readied herself as she waited for her enemies to get in a good position for her to initiate her ambush. With her Byakugan active, she was able to stay completely hidden while also keeping an eye on her enemies. Not only that, but she needed Yamato to wake up. Hopefully, he'd wake up soon because Hinata wasn't sure if it'd be a good idea to wait. Also, she noticed the other Taki shinobi tied up with the other civilians and if she could get them free, they would no doubt help stop the invaders as well.

As patient as Hinata was, even she had a limit. She saw that Gaara's sand was starting to wrap around him and create a small cocoon. As she rolled the small black sphere in her hands, she just hoped her idea would work.

Hinata quickly tossed the black ball in the air, having done her math in her head. She predicted where the ball would land, considering the force and trajectory she threw it. It hit right on target as it surrounded Hisame, Suien, Murasame and the rest of the prisoners in a mass of smoke.

"Be on your guard!" shouted Suien, surprised that Shibuki decided to go on the offensive. He growled as he waited for the smoke to disperse or to dodge an attack; whichever came first.

He was relatively surprised that he and his comrades were standing alone in front of the giant tree.

"I can't believe I thought he would attack," Suien berated himself as he barked at his minions to locate the civilians.

"**Water Style: Grand Tidal Wave!" **two voices shouted as water began to rise and head for the three missing-nins. They each jumped back and away from the tidal wave's range. While in air, they were suddenly surrounded by Taki shinobi. Suien cursed under his breath he swatted away a Taki ninja and proceeded to fend off the attacking and angry warriors. His comrades also had their fair share of Taki ninjas.

However, they had learned a few tricks in their time outside their village and were giving the indigenous people a fight for their lives.

Yamato groaned as he stared at Hinata. "Good job, Hinata," he praised, making Hinata slightly blush and smile with pride. "Now, stay hidden while I finish what I started," he ordered as he jumped into the fray. Hinata watched him release a torrent of wood blocks to the enemies and effectively distract Hisame long enough for one of the Taki shinobi to entrap her in a whip of water. She could tell that Yamato was still a bit groggy but she was sure he'd be fine with all the Taki back-up.

A thought hit her and without hesitation, she activated her eyes and started looking for Naruto. It wouldn't be too hard to find him; no one had as much chakra as Naruto. Gaara had an enormous reserve as well but Naruto still beat him, hands down. At this moment, though, Gaara's chakra was shining like the sun. She needed to wake him up and soon. He had told them that he was never allowed to sleep, and if he did, they were to wake him up immediately.

Still, it would be no easy feat considering that she'd literally have to cross a battlefield. Hinata was really hoping Naruto would come soon, or at least, that he was safe wherever he was. She sighed as she stood up and readied herself. Struggling to keep from shaking, she bent down a bit to jump.

Her eyes widened when she saw two large chakra signature heading in the direction of all the fighting. She knew one of those giant chakra signatures was Naruto, she could never forget his chakra. But who did that second signature belong to?

Within seconds, everyone's fight stopped as an explosion of rocks, debris and boulders were sent flying, along with a blond blur flying across the village and straight into Gaara's sand cocoon. Everyone looked to where the explosion came from, only to see something that shook them to their core.

A small black beast surrounded by red demonic chakra stood with glaring white eyes, large wings made completely of chakra, and, most notably, three long tails. It let out a low growl as it saw all the shinobi standing in the village. The beast seemed to have taken a breath before releasing a ground-shaking growl. All the Taki shinobi stared at the beast in fear as Suien let out a scoff in annoyance.

"Not it," he said to himself. However, Hisame heard him and blinked.

"What is... 'it'?" she asked and Suien gritted his teeth.

"The seven-tailed jinchūriki," he answered and it was almost as if the beast heard him because it disappeared before the eyes of everyone in attendance. Suddenly, random Taki shinobi began to fall to an invisible enemy.

Yamato cursed under his breath as he quickly rushed through hand signs. He slammed his hands on the ground and pillars of wood rose and chased after the flying jinchūriki. Unfortunately, the jinchūriki was able to maneuver around the pillars and still attack the shinobi. He went to make more until he noticed the giant sand cocoon. He sighed in frustration as he ran to stop Gaara's transformation but was stopped when he was blindsided by the flying jinchūriki.

He flew across the village and stopped when his back collided with the giant tree. His vision blurred for a second before he shook his head and tried to stand. His legs felt like jelly and he fell forward on his torso.

_'I can't move... not yet...'_ he thought as he watched as one by one the Taki shinobi fell to the hands of the village's pariah. Then, there were the Taki invaders, which were nowhere in sight. He sucked his teeth as he realized that they were in a compromising position. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him...

Where were his charges? He knew that Gaara was inside the cocoon and if he was right, so was Naruto. But, what about Hinata?

His question was answered as he saw Hinata running from her hiding spot to the ever-growing cocoon of sand.

_'Dammit Hinata, I told you to stay put,'_ he struggled to stand as he managed to get on his hands and knees. He could taste some blood in his mouth but he ignored it as he fought to stand.

"What else can go wrong?" Yamato mumbled before he managed to stand. Clasping his hands together, he began to summon more pillars of wood to capture the wild jinchūriki. The beast was fast, Yamato admitted, but he wasn't too old to keep up with a four-tailed form jinchūriki. At least, he hoped not.

Hinata looked up at the sand cocoon; it was huge! Beside her two team-mates, she saw that the two children and their mother was also in the net with Gaara. She needed to get them out and stop whatever was happening to Gaara. The problem was how she'd free everyone and stop Gaara?

Taking out five kunai, Hinata wrapped an explosive tag on each of the kunai's handle before throwing each of them at the sand cocoon. Seconds after hitting the sand, they were engulfed and the explosion was muffled by the sand. Hinata hurriedly tried to come up with a better tactic but nothing theoretically worked.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata yelled. She wasn't sure if he'd hear him from all the way inside the sand but she couldn't help try. Moments later, the cocoon vibrated violently, and a long burst of fire shot out from the side. Hinata watched in amazement as Naruto shot out of the sand cocoon with the two children and their unconscious mother being carried by his tails. The cocoon then began to crumble and soon enough, a small batch of sand fell to the ground with a thud.

Naruto ran to the side, placing the children and the mother to the side, safely away from all the fighting. After making sure no one would touch them, Naruto sprinted off to stand by Hinata.

Hinata wrapped Naruto in a hug and Naruto reciprocated the hug by wrapping his tails around her. His ears twitched quickly before his hold on Hinata's tightened and jumped off with her as the ground they once stood on suddenly combusted. Naruto growled as his eyes picked up on the attacking jinchūriki. He glared at the offending attacker before felt multiple sharp things bury themselves into his tails.

He let out a surprised growl before turning his head to see Gaara up with his right arm extended and his palm open. What surprised him was that Gaara's entire upper torso, arms and head were covered in sand and shaped to look like his inner demon, Shukaku. A sinister smile graced the sand demon's lips as his golden eyes lit up with mischief and bloodlust.

"**Nine Tails! You got smaller!"** Shukaku observed with a wicked laugh to his voice. **"Ah! And if it isn't the seven-tailed bug!"**

Naruto only growled at the miniature Shukaku before dodging another one of the seven-tailed jinchūriki's attacks. Hinata just watched the entire thing with disbelief; she wasn't sure what were the chances of actually being surrounded by three jinchūriki but she hoped it didn't end up as bad as she thought it would.

"**I'd love to stay and chat but I've got havoc to wreak. Wind Style: Sandstorm Devastation!"** Shukaku called out as the mouths on his face and his body sucked in a huge breath before releasing a large gust of wind along with a chakra-coated sand cloud. Naruto braced himself and made sure Hinata wouldn't get hit by the attack. When the jutsu hit him, he was surprised to feel a continuous stinging sensation before the wind sent him flying across the village and straight for the wall of rocks. His body hit the rocks with so much force that his vision shook and blurred for a good two minutes. When his vision finally recovered, his looked down to make sure Hinata was ok. His worry grew when she saw her eyes closed and blood coming down from the top of her head.

"Nata..." Naruto's voice seemed small and weak as he spoke. His fear taking hold of him that he could barely utter another word.

Shukaku laughed as he began throwing sand shuriken at the shinobi who haven't been taken down by the seven-tailed jinchūriki. Yamato had his eyes closed, concentrating on gather the right amount of chakra to trap both Shukaku and the Nanabi. Sweat traveled down his head as he felt pressure on the success of this jutsu.

The Nanabi's jinchūriki just watched Shukaku before continuing her assault on the shinobi. Hisame looked around for her comrades, luckily seeing Murasame dodging the Nanabi's attack. She ran up to him.

"Have you seen Suien-sama?" she asked and he shook his head. They turned their heads, looking for their esteemed leader, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Do you think he ran off?" Murasame asked angrily.

Hisame shook her head violently. "He'd never do that to us!" she declared confidently.

"**Wind Style: Air Bullet!**" Shukaku cried out before a giant air bullet tore through the ground and with the area near Hisame and Murasame. The force of the blow sent the two and any surrounding shinobi into the air and out of consciousness. **"HAHAHAHAHAHA! I'M HAVING A BLAST!"** the demon shouted in wicked glee as he released another air bullet. Yamato cursed himself for taking long; if he didn't hurry, the entire village would be reduced to nothing.

Yamato's eyes widened in fear and dread as evil and heavy chakra suddenly surrounded the entire village. A roar tore through all the silence that followed the chakra as a giant fireball flew through the air and hit Shukaku in the face. The demon was taken aback from the blow and growled in anger as he looked around for the idiot who dared attack him. His yellow eyes landed on Naruto who had multiple-colored fire surrounding his body.

"**What do you want Nine Tails?**" Shukaku asked, very irritated.

"**You hurt Nata!"** Naruto bellowed with a demonic tone to his words. Shukaku smirked before laughing. Naruto didn't take it well, so he zipped up to Shukaku. When he was in front of the one-tailed demon, he opened his mouth and sent a devastation stream of bright red fire at him. Shukaku cried out in pain as his sand turned to glass. He broke through the glass and regenerated his lost sand.

"**You jerk!"** Naruto ignored his words as he jumped back only to race up to Shukaku with his arms igniting with blue flames. Shukaku tried to jump away from the out of control Naruto but was too slow as Naruto disappeared from his eyes only to appear right behind him and hit the sand beast with a lariat. Shukaku bellowed in pain as the fire tore at his sand. Still, the demon managed to swat Naruto away, long enough to recover from a devastating hit.

Naruto managed to right himself before he hit the ground and growled at Shukaku. He felt something hovering over him but was too slow to react as the Nanabi's jinchūriki slapped his body away with one of its tails. Naruto hit the water and righted himself fast enough to fire multiple fireballs at the Nanabi. The Nanabi evaded all of Naruto's fireballs and flew down to attack Naruto.

The blond managed to dodge the jinchūriki but was then assaulted by multiple sand shuriken. Blood leapt into the air as Naruto landed in the water. He was engulfed by the water as he began to sink to the bottom. It took him a second to compose himself but he jetted back up and jumped into the air. His tails lit up as he position five tail to point at the Nanabi and four to aim at Shukaku. Spikes of his fur shot out and hit both tailed beast. Shukaku just laughed as the sharp fur just fell off his sand body. The Nanabi wasn't able to shake off Naruto's attack so easily but it healed quickly and growled in anger.

The Nanabi opened its mouth and Naruto saw its chakra begin to enter its mouth. Shukaku, catching on, also began to accumulate his chakra into his mouth.

Naruto tensed his body as he moved his nine tails over his head and tilted his head back. His mouth was open as he could feel his demonic chakra and fire begin to come together. The anger he felt boiling in his stomach and heart helped him acquire even more chakra and eventually, his ball of chakra and fire began the size of a boulder. The giant ball of chakra and fire began to shrink as Naruto consumed it like water. The ground underneath him sunk beneath his weight after swallowing the ball.

The three demon holders stared at each other before releasing their respective Tailed Beast Ball. The three beams of demonic chakra, fire and wind collided and the three struggled for dominance. Naruto knew he'd easily overpower Shukaku or the Nanabi jinchūriki if he'd face them off alone. Unfortunately, he was facing them while they worked together and together, their attack was just barely overpowering his. But he wouldn't give up, he couldn't; if he didn't stop them, then Hinata and Yamato could easily fall to them just like everyone else. He felt an obligation to stop these two as he was also once a jinchūriki.

Naruto felt his body being pushed back from the force of the other two's attack and he could feel their attack slowly coming closer to him. He gave his attack everything he had and their attacks came at a stand still.

Shukaku laughed as he and the Nanabi jinchūriki also put more of their energy into the blast. Naruto's eyes widened as his attack was disrupted. Not even a second later, his body was engulfed by the Tailed Beast Balls.

The resulting blast shook the entire village and a maelstrom of wind surrounded the blast's range. Shukaku laughed victoriously as he turned to the Nanabi.

"**That was fun!"** he declared. Suddenly, pillars of wood with spikes facing the center appeared from the ground, surrounding them. **"What the-?"**

Two teal colored whips shot out from outside of the pillars of wood and wrapped themselves around Shukaku's and the jinchuriki's neck. Within seconds, Shukaku and the jinchūriki could feel their power start to leave them.

"**Release me! Let me go!"** Shukaku shouted in vain before his bright golden eyes dulled over and the sand holding him up began to crumble. The Nanani's influence over its jinchūriki also began to fade as its cloak began to peel out, revealing a dark-skinned girl with mint green hair and orange, dull eyes. Gaara's red hair was the first thing to be seen before his face and then his torso.

Yamato released the technique when he saw the girl fall forward and when Gaara fell to his knees and grab his head.

"What... what happened?" he uttered weakly as he looked up, only to stare with wide eyes. "Did I...?"

"Gaara," he flinched and looked up to see Yamato limping his way towards him. "Are you ok?" he asked. Gaara nodded, though he groaned in pain as he moved his head. His hands went straight for his neck as Yamato noticed that it was a bright, angry red.

"Where's Naruto? And Hinata?" Gaara asked.

"Naruto hid Hinata somewhere safe. As for Naruto," Yamato paused to look to the left. Gaara followed his line of sight before he let out a gasp in surprise. He blinked as he took in the destruction the Tailed Beast Ball had done; leaving a giant gaping hole where the water fall once was. His body shook with fear and denial.

"He took the full force of two Tailed Beast Balls," Gaara looked up at Yamato in confusion amidst his fear.

"Two?" his eyes then caught some movement beside him and he saw the Nanabi jinchūriki.

"She holds the Nanabi inside her, just as you hold Shukaku inside of you," Yamato answered as he continued to stare at the gaping hole.

"I harmed... our team-mate," Gaara stated as he glanced at his hands.

"No," Yamato and Gaara turned to see Hinata walking over to them.

"Hinata, your bleeding!" Yamato noticed but Hinata smiled and shook her head.

"This isn't my blood. It's Naruto-kun's. His blood got on me when he was hit with Shukaku's sandstorm," she assured and looked at Gaara, who couldn't keep eye contact with her. "It's not your fault. Shukaku took over and made you do all those things. It's not your fault," she told him but Gaara shook his head.

"Isn't this heartwarming," the remaining team 7 faced Suien as he came out with a sword made of water in his hand and had it positioned to slice Shibuki's throat. In Shibuki's hands was the Hero's Water. "As much as I'd like you to try to console this demon and clear his conscious, I'm afraid you won't have time to. You see, you four have caused me enough trouble and I don't need you to interfere anymore then you already have," he laughed as his hold on the water sword tightened. "Say your final farewells, because in another minute, you won't have the breath to do it."

"That's enough!" Shibuki yelled. "I'm tired of always being afraid. I get so sick of my own cowardice that I wish I was dead."

His body shook as he held back his tears. "But not anymore," he said as his chakra spiked and blasted Suien back. Flashing through hand signs, he summoned his own water sword and began to fight with Suien. With his speed and strength powered by the Hero's Water, Shibuki was giving Suien a run for his money. He was able to keep Suien on his toes while also blocking and parrying Suien's attacks.

Suien scowled as he jumped back from Shibuki's horizontal swipes before charging forward, his sword cocked back. Shibuki reared his sword back and swung forward when he thought Suien was going to swing. Unfortunately for him, Suien ducked to the left at the last minute and thrust his sword forward, embedding it into his stomach. Shibuki gasped in pain, as his jutsu dispersed and he fell to his knees.

"You could have all the strength and speed in the world but it will never be better than experience," Suien whispered as he grabbed the Hero's Water from Shibuki's other hand. He placed his foot on Shibuki's chest and then kicked the man off his sword. He held the Hero's Water in the air as he let out a cackle.

"I've got it!" he declared victoriously. He was so entrapped in his victory that he didn't notice sand traveling up his body. It wasn't until the sand held his body and his arm in place that he noticed the Hero's Water flying away. "What the-?"

"**Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!**" Hinata shouted as she sprinted up to Suien and began rapidly closing his chakra points. She was still a little groggy from the blow that was dealt to her by Shukaku but she managed to close sixty-two of the sixty-four chakra points correctly. Suien fell to the ground with a thud. He groaned in pain as he glared at Hinata. Gaara grabbed onto the Hero's Water as his sand brought it over to him.

"Damn it," Suien cursed under his breath. Two strips of wood locked Suien down to the ground.

"Just in case," Yamato said as he glared at Suien. Hinata gave Gaara one last look before running off to look for Naruto. Her Byakugan flared as she strained to keep it active. Her headache wasn't helping her concentrate but she fought through it; she needed to find Naruto.

After running for what seemed like forever, Hinata tripped over something and fell down. She cried in frustration as she gripped the dirt under her. She didn't see his chakra signature anywhere. It had completely vanished! Either he had gone farther than she first thought or his body was wiped out from the blast. She cried harder at the last thought and started to get angry with herself. She just wanted to disappear; she didn't want to continue forward without Naruto. She'd rather live alone for the rest of her life and go on without Naruto.

"H-Hey..." Hinata looked up with wide eyes to see Naruto walking towards her. Her lavender eyes stayed on him, never moving as he continued to walk towards her. "Uhm... y-you wouldn't happen to have a f-first-aid k-kit on you... would you?" he asked weakly. Hinata stood and said nothing. She couldn't believe her eyes...

Naruto was back to normal.

**So, what did you think of my surprise?**

**Don't worry, this story is about Naruto being fused with the Nine Tails, so he's not going to be normal forever... But for now, he's as normal as Naruto can ever be...**

**Now, before anyone says anything, yes, I know I probably made some mistakes, a lot in fact.. I'll fix it later, I promise...**

**Also, I guess you guys what you wanted... I got Fū involved... Will she stay or is this her only appearance? I don't know hahaha..**

**Nah, I do know, but I won't let you know until I want you too...**

**I'll try to update this one soon, I promise! This and Flash in the Whirlpool (Minakushi).. I'm going to wait to update my other Naruhina stories until the end of the series, until Naruto finally confronts Hinata about her confession, or until I lose patience and get really inspired... Either way, not now... **

**Hope you have a nice day/night and I'll be back soon!**


	10. Back to Normal

**I can't believe it's taken me so long to update, let alone this story.. I'm pretty pathetic -.-**

**Regardless, I hope you enjoy this new chapter and just to recap the last chapter, Naruto fought off Shukaku and the Nanabi, but was transformed back to normal... Sort of but whatever...**

**On with the chapter!**

* * *

Normally, no one could stomach the site of Naruto devouring ramen like a man who hadn't eaten in weeks. The way the noodles and broth went into his mouth disgusted anyone who had the misfortune to lay their eyes on him. Now though, he had an audience watching him as he went through six bowls of ramen in record time. He wasn't sure what their problem was, but as long as he ate his ramen, he wasn't going to complain.

Hinata just couldn't believe her eyes; she rubbed her eyes again, wondering if she was still dreaming. There was no possible way that Naruto returned back to normal... right?

Finishing off his sixth bowl before Hinata could open her eyes again, he paused and stared at his audience in attendance. He blinked and just stared, not uttering a word, not making a single sound. His eyes first landed on teal ones that made him feel odd. It was like the red-haired boy wanted to say something, but he couldn't muster up the words. The look in his eyes didn't help make anything less awkward; was that pity? He quickly moved his gaze over to the only female around him. Hinata was her name, if he remembered correctly; he wasn't too sure. She gave him the weirdest feeling out of the two. She looked lost and confused and searched for the answer she was looking for in his eyes. He didn't really know her all that well, just that she was a dark, weird girl who attended the same classes he did in the academy. Now, she was a mysterious dark weirdo who Naruto hoped wasn't as crazy as Sasuke's fan girls.

When he first woke up, he wasn't sure what to think. Last he remembered, he was relaxing under the shade of a rather large tree, trying to forget the glares and hate of the villagers when all of a sudden, a shady figured appeared in front of him and put a bag over his head. Everything after that... he drew a blank.

So after gathering his bearings, he caught up with Hinata and she escorted him to some Jonin. The guy seemed to know Naruto but Naruto couldn't say the same about him. The walk home was long and awkward, especially when the Jonin kept trying to explain everything that had occured in the last twenty-four hours to him. In Naruto's opinion, maybe the Jonin wasn't mentally stable enough to handle a Genin team just yet.

Even through the awkwardness, Naruto still kept a smile on his face and it only grew as he saw Konoha's massive walls. He could finally get away from the weirdos that kept saying they were in his team. How could he believe that? He was only nine for Kami's sake!

And yet, he noticed that his body did feel different; slightly taller, slightly stronger but aside from that, he was mostly the same.

"So are you guys going to join in or what?" he asked as nicely as he could. Gaara and Hinata blinked, looked down and noticed that their ramen had indeed shown up, minutes ago actually. The meal wasn't as hot as it first was but it wasn't too cold. Gaara stared at his bowl for another ten seconds before digging in. Hinata didn't give it a second thought and pushed it aside. "Hey, you shouldn't-" he wasn't given a chance to finish as Hinata pushed the ramen in front of him. She knew him quite well, even if he didn't think so. He didn't question it as he dug into her ramen, oblivious of her staring again.

"Naruto," Gaara called out silently, barely above a whisper. Naruto looked up from his bowl in mid-bite. He blinked as he waited for the redhead to continue. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen."

Naruto just tilted his head confusingly; the redhead hadn't spoken a word to him - to anyone, really - and the first words to him confused him to no end.

"For what? What happened?"

"I had no intentions of blasting you with my Biju Bomb, or doing... this, to you," he answered, guilt evident in his tone. Naruto could only blink.

"Biju Bomb? What?"

"Naruto-kun-" whatever Hinata was going to say died in her throat; she couldn't find the courage to continue. She closed her eyes shut, as if shutting the world away, before getting up, apologizing and running off. Naruto watched her go, staring at the last spot she saw her in before returning his stare at Gaara. The Jinchuuriki knew his female teammate wouldn't take this well, but he hadn't known just how bad it was. Hell, he still didn't completely know.

"So what's wrong with her? Did someone die?" he asked before gulping down more ramen. Gaara simply shook his head as he stood as well.

"For her sake, I hope not," he gave no explanation to his vague answer and just walked off. Naruto didn't even bothering watching him go. He finished Hinata's ramen bowl and then stared at it, getting lost in his thoughts of what just transpired.

"Hey old man, more ramen!"

**[*.*.*.*]**

Naruto stuck his right pinky in his ear, cleaning the gunk out of it because there was obviously something messing up his hearing. This Jonin, Yamato, couldn't have possibly said he was going to fight him... did he?

"Ok, I think I got everything out; now what was that about fighting?"

Yamato sighed. "Well, according to your doctor, you are perfectly healthy. Whatever happened back in Taki didn't negatively impact your body, so you should be fine, physically speaking. With that being said, Lord Hokage wants to know if you're capable of retaining your rank."

Naruto blinked. "What rank? I'm still in the academy." This only made Yamato rub his temples.

"We went over this already Naruto, you're really a Genin, you passed the Graduation and my own test months ago," Yamato tried to sound patient but the boy was making it hard.

"Yeah right-"

"Regardless of what you think, you and I are going to spar, got it?" Yamato asked, his face taking on a scarier look. Naruto gulped and nodded obediently. Yamato smirked and nodded. "Then let's begin."

Naruto felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, his blood run cold and he could almost hear his instincts yelling at him to move. Deciding to listen to his gut, he jumped back just as columns of wood rose from the ground and tried to trap him. Unfortunately for Yamato, his body still retained the strength it had before he changed. Unfortunately for Naruto, he didn't know just how strong he physically was. He flew back and couldn't adjust his body to his movements. His legs hit the ground and sent him tumbling up until he crashed belly-first into a tree. He paused to catch his breath and held his stomach, trying in vain to dull the pain.

His instincts once again told him to move and even against his body's wishes, he pushed himself up and jumped away as shuriken and kunai came flying towards him. He panted heavily as he stared into the eyes of the lunatic 'sparring' with him. Naruto wasn't given a chance to yell at the older ninja like he wanted too, he was too busy avoiding more wooden columns trying to capture him.

Yamato watched closely, taking in the way Naruto jumped left and right, dodging and evading his columns. He had to say, he was impressed. He doubted Naruto knew what he was doing; he was simply listening to what his guts told him. And yet, he was still avoiding him, just like he used to before his change. True, he wasn't as graceful or careful about how he went about it, but Naruto was still pretty skilled considering his circumstances.

Deciding to up the ante, Yamato doubled his wooden columns efforts and even added more to the fun. It wouldn't take long to capture him now, not even his demonic side was sly enough to avoid capture.

Naruto knew he was screwed when the columns moved faster, even more when he saw more pop out of the ground. It wasn't long before he was encased in a wooden cage and lifted high off the ground.

"Well, I can't say I'm not impressed Na-" Yamato stopped abruptly and narrowed his eyes; something didn't feel right. His suspicions were proven correct as the bottom of the wooden cage was burned and down came Naruto. Without missing a beat, Naruto made quick work of the gap between him and Yamato with flames engulfing both arms.

He let out a strong battle cry as he swung his right arm forward. Yamato ducked in time but only to block a kick that threatened to send him off flying. Naruto spun on his right heel and smashed his left fist into Yamato's stomach, passed his defenses. Yamato bent over in pain, giving Naruto another opening. With a powerful knee to the face, Naruto sent his sensei flying before Yamato broke into chunks and splinters of wood. Naruto's eyes widened, not having ever seen that before. By the time he felt his instincts going off, Yamato came up behind him and quickly placed the edge of his kunai against Naruto's throat before the blond could even blink.

"I think this spar is over," Yamato stated calmly. Naruto turned his head slowly before glaring at the older man. Facing forward, Naruto swung his head back and hit Yamato square in the chest. Yamato flinched but didn't move too much, only taking a step back. That was enough for Naruto as he substituted himself with a log and ran at the man with his back turned. A devious smirk decorated his face as he jumped and was over Yamato in an instant, ready to give him his everything in one punch.

He gasped in surprise when Yamato simply ducked. It was too late for Naruto to catch himself and drove his fist into the ground just in front of Yamato. However, both were surprised when an explosion erupted from the hit. Yamato managed to substitute himself away at the last second, but Naruto wasn't so lucky. Yamato saw the blond's unconscious body flying off from the explosion. He wasted no time using the body flicker technique to appear in the blond's way and catch him before hit the unforgiving Earth. He winced from a sudden pain coursing through his body but he ignored it as he landed gracefully and put Naruto down. His eyes almost popped out of his eyes when he finally noticed the fire surrounding Naruto. He was perfectly fine! His skin wasn't marred or burned, his clothes slightly but not him.

Hinata and Gaara, having witnessed everything, could only stare in silent awe at the oddity that was their teammate. Yamato let out a sigh before smiling.

"Well, that could've gone better."

"Indeed,"

"So, Yamato-sensei, what happens now?" Yamato's smile never faltered as he shifted his gaze to his other student.

"When he wakes up, we're getting back to work."

**[*.*.*.*]**

It didn't take long for Team 7 to get adjusted to the new Naruto. After a few days of reteaching him some things he already knew, like how to make Shadow Clones and improve his Chakra control, the team had gone back to doing missions. For some reason, the tedious D-rank missions seemed easier to do with Naruto doing more and using his clones. It wasn't so much that the previous Naruto was lazy, just that this Naruto seemed more level-headed. Weeks became months and soon enough, the Chunin Exams were around the corner. And now, Yamato found himself sighing as he watched his Jonin friends volunteer their green Genin to take the exams.

"Yamato," said Jonin straightened up and mentally scolded himself for getting side-tracked.

"Yes, Lord Hokage?"

"What is on your mind?" Yamato blinked.

"Well, sir, I think..." he paused with a frown on his face. "I don't think any of this year's graduates are ready for the Exams. I'm not trying to say they don't have the skills to pass the exams, far from it; however, I feel that maybe they should wait another year, like Gai did with his students."

At the mention of his name, Gai came to life and gave the Wood-user a thumbs up. "I applaud your honesty and agree with your logic whole-heartedly. I held my students back a year so they could have experience to back up their youthful skills."

Yamato forced a smile as he nodded in Gai's direction.

"I see," Hiruzen mumbled into his hands that were in front of his mouth. "Does that change anyone else's mind?" he asked but Kakashi, Asuma and Kurenai didn't budge. "So, I can safely assume you are going to keep your students from taking these exams, Yamato?" Yamato hesitated for a second before nodding his head.

"I would like to wait for the next Chunin Exams, at the very least. But I would like to ask for a C-rank mission."

"Fair enough. If that is all, Kakashi, Asuma and Kurenai, come get the forms your students will need to fill out before they take the Exams. The rest are dismissed.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Naruto sighed as he stared up at the ceiling of his room. It felt odd living with the Hyugas; especially when he barely knew anyone. Although, somewhere in the back of his head, he felt a sense of familiarity when he saw Hinata, her younger sister and her father. Though he mostly kept to himself, the older male would occasionally stop by to see how the blond was doing. Not that he minded, he actually liked the man.

Hinata, though... she was just plain weird. She used to be weird because she would always get sick around him if her red face was anything to go by, faint and stutter a lot. Now, she was weird because while she was nice and kind to him, she was also distant and...

It wasn't that she didn't care but she would sometimes seem detached or try to be whenever she did something for him. Almost like she was afraid that he would hurt her or would hurt her again. Which, in retrospect, was preposterous since he's never hurt her before.

Naruto shook his head, trying to clear his mind so he could go to sleep. He had a mission to go to in the morning. Something about an escort mission to some far away land. He didn't remember, he wasn't really paying attention. He was too excited about finally leaving Konoha. He's never really left Konoha so he was ecstatic about what life outside the walls of Konoha looked like. A smirked crossed his features as he turned on his side and his imagination thought up of the dangers and excitement lay in wait for him.

Before his alarm clock sounded off, Naruto was awake and jumping out of bed, ready to start the mission. He had all his stuff packed and ready to go by his door. He walked out of his room at the same time Hinata did. He smiled at her, happy to see that he wasn't the only early-riser. While not completely sincere, she still tried her best to smile at him before walking down the hall. Naruto stared at her back, confusion written all over his face.

"Uzumaki," Naruto turned to the direction that had called out his name, only to be greeted by the Head of the Hyuga clan. The blond bowed lowly.

"Good morning, Lord Hyuga."

"I see you are leaving for your mission to the Land of Iron."

Naruto righted himself and nodded enthusiastically. "Yup! I'm excited to finally be out of Konoha. Not that I ever want to leave my home but..." he paused as he tried to find the right words to say. Hiashi nodded in understanding.

"It's ok, I understand what you mean. Please, do try not to get killed," Hiashi said before beginning to walk away.

"Wait, Lord Hyuga!" when he saw he had the man's attention, he pointed a thumb in Hinata's direction. "What's wrong with Hinata? She seems... sort of out of it."

Hiashi frowned slightly as he thought about Naruto's words. "I do not know for certain. However, I believe she's trying to face the fact that she might have lost a dear friend for a long time, possibly for the rest of her life," Naruto raised an eyebrow but said nothing. "If I were you, Uzumaki, I would confront her about it."

"But, you're her father, shouldn't you be the one asking?"

"I might be her father, but I am of no help to her. There is only one person who can help her."

"Ok, so where is this person?"

"No one knows. But don't be discouraged, I am sure if anyone can help her, besides the one I mentioned, it would be you," without another word, Hiashi disappeared in his office after shutting his door. Naruto mused over Hiashi's words as he made his way to the main gates. He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice Hinata walking behind him, following him to the gates. Getting his attention back to the real world, he turned and stared at Hinata. She blushed slightly at the intensity of his gaze but said nothing, knowing him well enough to see that he was about to speak. He opened his mouth but it took him a while to actually say anything.

"Are you ok?" he asked, surprising the young Hyuga.

"Yes I am. Why do you ask?"

"Well, you just seem sort of distant," he answered, making her look away. "Kind of weird that you're like that considering that we've been on the same team for months now."

"I'm sorry Naruto," she looked up with her eyes closed and a forced smile on her face. "I'll try to be less distant from now on," she didn't wait for a response as she continued forward to where she saw Yamato, Gaara and some newlyweds. Naruto sighed as he followed after her. Something in his gut told him things would only get worse before it got better.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Off somewhere near the Land of Iron, a man with long, white hair sneezed.

"Ugh! You're disgusting!" the scantily-clad woman sitting on his lap screeched as she made her way to the restroom. The man blinked and shrugged his shoulders as he took another sip of his sake.

"Oh waitress! I need more sake!" he sang as the waitress made her way to him.

* * *

**Well, hope it was to your liking, even though it was kind of short... I'm getting rusty -.-**

**I'll try to put out the next chapter sometime next week, but knowing me, I wouldn't hold my breath...**

**I've never seen anyone write about Naruto's team not taking the Chunin Exams... I believe I have seen one where they end up joining at the last second but never not taking it.. Let's see where I go with this, shall we?**

**Good luck with whatever**


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